King in his Own Lunchbox
by Svendances
Summary: Nine year old Liam Manoso is far from an ordinary kid on the block. He has unique perceptions of the world around him. Will certain events in his life challenge these unusual views? Tune in to find out. Babe, but no Cupcakes were harmed in the making.
1. The Dragon

_Standard Disclaimers Apply: I do not own the Stephanie Plum world, nor the characters that are indigenous to it. I do, however, lay claim to those characters introduced to it, such as those found in this story._

_This is a new story idea I came up with this afternoon. I thought I'd give it a whirl and see if anyone liked it. If I get ten reviews I'll continue it._

**King in his Own Lunchbox**

Prologue

Mama always told me that the key to telling a good story was to start with a fire breathing dragon and go from there. So here I was, back up against the basement wall with a dragon breathing puffs of smoke in my face. Don't believe me? Just check the security footage. Dad keeps every inch of the building monitored, night and day, day and night, no matter how unused the area is. Personally, I think he could have put a little more effort into the basement area. I mean, seriously! How do you not notice a giant fire breathing dragon lurking amongst the stacks of boxes? And they called themselves security experts.

The dragon let out another warm breath, surrounding me with a dense smoke. It was so close that I could have reached out and touched its green scaled nose had I not been completely paralysed with fear. I tried not to breathe too deeply to avoid having a coughing fit that would potentially trigger the dragon into action and who knew what would happen then? Probably, he would tear me limb from limb so fast I wouldn't have a chance to scream. And then I would never see my tenth birthday! It was definitely better to try not to inhale the smoke. I might live longer.

Without thinking, I let out a small whimper and the dragon laughed, moving a little closer so it could stare its big amber eyes into my brown ones. He searched their depths for a moment before lumbering off to his nest in the bowls of the basement. The moment he was out of sight I ran to the door that led to the stair well and didn't stop until I'd reached the fifth floor panting and huffing for air.

"Liam!" Uncle Hal exclaimed. "Where have you been? Your mother's been looking everywhere for you!"

"I got trapped by the dragon in the basement!" I told him excitedly. "It was just like Cooper said! Massive with green scales and amber eyes! And it breathes fire!" I was hopping from one foot to the other while I explained about how I'd been backed against the wall and couldn't get away and I had to hold my breath. He laughed and ruffled my hair before pushing me in the direction of Dad's office where Cooper was waiting for me.

Cooper is my brother. He's like a sixteen or something, so he's a bazillion years older than me, and has a tonne of homework all the time, but he still lets me hang out with him sometimes. If I'm really quiet while he's working on his homework he'll tell me stories, like the ones Mama likes to tell but with more violence. My favourite one is about a knight in shining armour that gets his head chopped off but continues searching for the damsel in distress so he can save her. He ruins the lady's dress with all the blood that's pouring out of his neck, but the lady doesn't mind.

The moment he saw me, Cooper smiled and held out his hand for me to take before leading me into Dad's office. "I found Liam," he announced, dragging me into the room and lifting me up to sit on the edge of Dad's desk. "Don't move," he told me. "The floor is made of lava."

Shocked, I looked down to find that he was right. The floor was covered in red hot, molten lava. "Don't stand in it, Cooper!" I cried. "You'll burn up!"

He let out a chuckle. "Don't you worry about me," he said. "I've got my special sneakers on."

Of course! How could I forget Cooper's special sneakers? If he didn't have those sneakers he would have died _ages_ ago. They saved him from the lava floor that crops up at random intervals. They made him run faster and walk quieter and so much more. I longed so much for a pair of special sneakers for myself so I could be cool like Cooper, but Mama said I had to earn them. Only great heroes could have special shoes, she'd said, which is why Dad and Cooper both had special sneakers and one day if I was good enough I'd get them too.

"Cooper," Dad said, looking up from his computer and frowning over his reading glasses at Cooper. "Have you been smoking?"

"Course not," he replied, crinkling his brow. "Why would I do something as stupid as that?"

"Don't lie to me, Cooper. I can smell the smoke clinging to your clothes."

I turned around on the desk so that I could see Dad more easily. He removed his glasses and set them aside to lock eyes with Cooper. It was Dad's scary face, the one he used to stare down my uncles and scare away the boogermen from the closet at night. No one could lie to the scary face, not even Cooper and his special sneakers. Not even Mama, and I can't tell you how many times Mama's tried. I don't think she understood the power of the scary face.

After a while, Cooper took a step closer to Dad, around the desk, and held out his arm. "I swear, Dad, I haven't been smoking. I know better than that."

Dad was about to react when I remember the dragon breathing on me. "It was the dragon!" I shouted. "Coop hasn't been smoking! The dragon was breathing on me! It's me you can smell, Dad!" Just then Mama entered the room dressed her super tall shoes. "Get off the floor, Mama!" I warned. "The floor is made of lava! You'll die!"

In response she leaned down and tapped the side of her ankle three times and a light glow emitted from the bottom of her shoes. She'd just activated the heat shield. It would last about an hour if it needed to, but that was rarely the case. "Phew," she said, whipping her forehead with the back of her hand. "That was a close one. Thanks for warning me, Liam."

"I'm just glad you didn't go any further," I told her. "It gets deeper closer to Dad's desk. Even with your high shoes your feet would have been incinerated."

"Are we all ready to go?" she asked, looking between Coop and Dad as she smoothed down her dress. Sundays we always go to Grandma and Grandpa's house for dinner. It's really fun, 'cause it means I get to play with the old griffoness that lived in their living room. She was white all over and was kind a crazy, but lots of fun. She like to pluck at my hair and lick it into place, which never worked real well, because it stood up at odd angles no matter what anyone did to it. Mama liked to call it my happy hair, because it only lay flat when I wasn't happy.

As we all piled into Dad's motorised flying pirate ship, Mama sniffed the air. I sniffed it too, smelling the salt from the sea far below us and smiled appreciatively. Dad's pirate ship always had the best smelling air. Mama leaned closer to me and sniffed again while Cooper made sure I was strapped in properly – nobody wanted to fall from a flying pirate ship, least of all me. "Liam why do you smell like smoke?" Mama asked.

"I got trapped by a dragon today!" I told her as Dad set sail for Grandma's house in the woods. "He was right up close to me. I could have touched him, but I was afraid to move. I'm not as brave as Cooper. He wouldn't have been afraid to touch the dragon, would you Coop?"

"Course not, kiddo," Cooper assured me. "I'd have stuck my head in his mouth if I got the opportunity. No dragon can hurt me."

"See?" I said. "Coop is fearless!"

Mama sent a smile to Cooper and me before turning back to Dad at the helm. "You've got to talk to the new guys about smoking in the building," she said to Dad. "Especially in front of Liam. It's not good for him."

"Any sign of the skeletal devil horses yet, Liam?" Cooper asked me, leaning across the space between us to look over my side of the ship.

"Nope," I informed him. "Nothing yet. Hand me my telescope." He placed the long seeing tube in my hand and I quickly used it to scan the horizon. In the distance I could just make out the tell tale red and blue flash of a sky shark hovering next to a flying row boat. "The poor guy didn't stand a chance," I lamented, shaking my head.

"What's that, Liam?" Dad asked over his shoulder. "Did you spot something?"

"Sky sharks, Dad," I said. "Sky sharks caught the old row boat from down the street."

"Poor bugger," Dad sighed before returning to conversation with Mama. I didn't know what they were talking about but I think it might have been related to dragon extermination.

"How much further to Grandma's house," I asked Coop.

"Not far now, kiddo. We just passed the massive tree marker."

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><p><em>So, like I said, ten reviews and I'll continue. Let me know what you think.<em>


	2. Sloths and Serpents

_Wow! What an overwhelming reception! I think I'd be mad to deny all those demands for me to continue! You asked for more, you got it. Enjoy._

**Chapter 1**

"Hi, Grandma Mazur," Cooper said to the griffoness as he lead me into Grandma's living room. "Do you remember who I am today?"

"Of course I do, Lisa. You're such a good girl! Come over here and give me a big ol' kiss."

Cooper shook his head but did as she said, leaning down so that the griffoness could leave a big, wet bird kiss on his cheek. I thought it was funny that she never remembered who Cooper was. He had to answer to a different name every week. This week he wasn't even a boy, he was apparently our cousin Lisa the Troll. I let out a giggle as Cooper wiped griffoness saliva from the side of his face. He made a face at me and pulled me closer to her.

"I brought Liam to see you," he said loudly. "You remember Liam, don't you?"

Her eyes travelled to my face and she smiled gummily. "Liam," she said happily. "What adventure are you on today?"

"Of course she remembers him," Cooper muttered, plopping down onto the couch. "She always remembers Liam."

I ignored Cooper's jealousy and climbed up to sit on the arm of the couch so that she didn't have to lean down to talk to me and ruffle her beautiful white speckled feathers. "I go ambushed by a dragon!" I told her, swinging my legs back and forth. "He was going to burn me up with his fire, but then he just laughed and walked away. I guess he wasn't as hungry as he thought he was. Oh! Guess what I saw ton the way over! Sky Sharks! They were circling the old row boat from down the street. I don't think he's gonna make it."

"Any devil horses today?" she asked.

The griffoness always asked about skeletal devil horses. She really liked them, said they were the best thing in the world. Made her feel like she was flying when she rode them. I guess she missed flying since her wings don't work so good anymore. There was a time that she would fly everywhere and nobody, not even the gate keeper could bring her down, but her wings were broken and her legs were weak. These days she was lucky to get to the table when Grandma called us to dinner. Cooper always helped her though; he's a good brother. He used to wheel me around too, but then I got big and learned how to use my legs.

"No devil horses today, Griffoness," I told her as her head sagged to her chest. "Dad says when I'm older he might let me ride on one though."

"Coop, why don't you take Liam outside for a while? We don't want Grandma Mazur to fall asleep before dinner." That was Mama, she was always making sure I didn't tire out the griffoness. She was old after all.

While Cooper was still getting to his feet I raced to the hall closet to grab out my armour and sword. As I quickly pulled the lightweight armour over my head and shoved the sword into its sheath attached to my belt Cooper came up behind me and leaned over my head to reach his own sword. He tapped the flat side against the top of my head before sliding it into his own sheath. I turned to inspect his attire, making sure he had his converter jacket on before hurrying to the kitchen. "Grandpa!" I yelled. "Where are our horses?"

"I put them in the stable when it rained last night," he explained, lumbering into the kitchen after us and tossing me the keys to the stable while Cooper unlocked the back door. "They're all fed and groomed for you. Saddles are where they always are."

"Thanks Grandpa," I called over my shoulder, running past Cooper and straight out to the stable that sat in the back corner of the clearing. I found the right key and tried to put it in the lock, but I was still too short. Sighing in frustration I handed Cooper the keys. One of these days I was going to be taller than Cooper and he was going to need me to reach things for him, like the top cupboard in the hall where Mama kept her witchcraft books.

"Why don't you climb to the top of the tower and check the perimeter while I get the horses saddled," Cooper suggested before disappearing into the stable.

I hurtled across the clearing and bounded up the stairs to the lookout tower. I could see the entire forest from up there; the tops of the trees were so far below me . If I squint my eyes I could just make out the Queen's castle in the distance. It's purple flags were flying in the same wind that whipped my hair into my eyes. I scanned the horizon for any signs of trouble or danger. The odd little bird would fly up from the roof of the forest, distracting me with their vibrant colours and sparkling beaks. Occasionally they would be chased by a rogue double hawk, it's two sets of wings flapping awkwardly as it struggled to catch up. Double hawks are one of the fiercest creatures that inhabit the woods surrounding Grandma's house. Their tempers are short as my pinkie toe, but their patience is endless. They'll chase the same sparkling bird for hours on end and never catch up then thrash through the top branches of the trees, tossing up twigs and leaves in their wake to vent their frustration.

"How's it looking up there, Sir Liam?" Cooper called up to me. "Do you need your telescope?"

"No. Visibility is pretty good today, I can see all the way to the castle."

"What dangers lie before us?"

"Nothing more than the double hawks doomed quest."

"Shall we take a ride and check out the surface world then?"

"Just give me a sec to check on our secret stash," I told him, making my way across the tower to the small hatch in the floor. Wrenching it open, I looked in at all our shiny gold coins and jewelled head pieces, counting the rings and necklaces to make sure they were all there. If Lisa the troll knew where we hid our rewards and findings there'd be war. We were pretty sure half the jewels we had belonged to her, but there was no way of knowing without revealing that we had them so we kept them hidden and said nothing about them when she was around. Seeing that everything was in order, I skipped quickly down the stairs and out of the tall stone building to meet Cooper with our horses.

Cooper was already mounted, his black stead, Thor, shuffling it's hooves restlessly as he always did when forced to be so close to my mare, Quin. They didn't get along very well most of the time. Coop said it was because Thor really liked Quin but Quin didn't want the same kind of friendship as Thor. It sounded a bit weird, but he was the horse whisperer, so I didn't question it. I approached slowly, knowing that Quin could be a little jumpy, and gently stroked her muzzle before mounting her.

The moment I was in the saddle she was off, following the stream like she always did until we reached the big rock where Cooper had planted a money tree years ago before I was born. It had grown big and often produced the gold coins we brought back to our stash. I dismounted and tied Quin's reins to the tree trunk so she couldn't run away before checking the upper branches for the monkeys that frequented the tree. They were evil monkeys that liked to throw the coins at us if we tried to harvest the gold while they were hanging around. Once, one of them even went so far as to chase me and Quin through the forest, gnashing his metal teeth at us. Eventually, Cooper had caught up to us and tackled the monkey to the ground, rubbing his face in the dirt and leaf litter and threatening him with an atomic wedgy.

The coast was clear, so I scurried around picking up all the dropped coins and marvelling, not for the first time, why no one else had ever thought to pick them up.

"Liam!" Cooper yelled, out of breath as broke through the trees. "How many times to I have to tell you not to run off like that? Dad would have my head if something happened to you."

"It wasn't my fault," I explained. "Quin was impatient."

"Well then _Quin_ should calm down once in a while." He tied Thor to a nearby stump and came over to the money tree to inspect my loot. "Got a good haul today," he commented holding out his small satchel for me to drop the coins in. "How much does that make in the kitty?"

"Fifteen thousand," I informed him. "Not including the jewellery or the antiques."

His blue eyes smiled down at me as he closed the satchel and patted it firmly against his side. "How much do you think we'll get for the antiques if we sold them?" he asked. He was smoothing down his straight black hair and looking into the trees that surrounded us, barely paying attention to me. I knew what that meant. Cooper could sense his princess approaching. With long, curling red hair and green eyes surrounded by a sprinkling of freckles and not a wart in sight, she truly was one of the fairest maidens in all the land. What she saw in Cooper, I had no idea, but hey she was the one who had to put up with kissing his pimple riddled face, not me. And by the way, yuck. As if you would willingly swap saliva with a girl, even if she was a princess.

"Astrid." He grinned, moving to the nearest tree and reaching out his hand to help the lady through the underbrush. She took it and the moment she was standing steadily again their lips met. I gagged and made vomiting motions over the stream. "I've missed you," he said.

Kissing his nose lightly with a sickening giggle, she replied, "It's only been two days."

"The longest two days of my life."

"You say that every Sunday," she murmured leaning against his chest.

"Well, I mean it every Sunday."

At that moment Thor broke loose and head butted Princess Astrid. Thor didn't like Astrid. He showed her every week, but Astrid never got the hint. She'd just stroke his big head and smile over at me. "And it's good to see you too, Liam," she informed me. "No sign of the metal toothed monkeys?"

"Nope," I muttered. "They're probably at the caves, it was raining last night and they can't go out in the wet or their teeth will rust."

"That's right," she agreed, returning her attention to Cooper.

"Hey, Liam why don't you-."

"Yeah, yeah," I interrupted. "Keep an eye out for sloths and serpents. I'm looking, I'm looking."

"Good man," he murmured before pressing his lips to Princess Astrid's once more, wrapping his arms around her neck to pull her closer.

I untied Quin from the tree and we rode around the small area surrounding the money tree and the two love birds, carefully eyeing the trees for signs of sloths and serpents. The darkening of a shadow, the rustle of leaves, the distinct hissing of a breath. It was hard to concentrate on all these things with Cooper and Astrid sucking face behind me, so I ventured further into the woods, keeping my eyes peeled for slime trails and dripping poison spit. I hadn't gone far before I felt the hairs on the back of my neck prickle and stand on end. Someone was following me. Quin jigged to the side a few steps, sensing my apprehension, so I reached my hand up to stroke her neck soothingly. "Don't worry, Quin," I told her. "It's probably just Cooper and Astrid. You know how he likes to take her for rides on Thor sometimes." She snorted in response, her ears twitching this way and that, listening intently.

I pulled Quin to a stop, straining my ears for a moment, hoping I hadn't heard what I thought I'd just heard. Turning my head to the side, I saw the shadows lurking between the trees deepen and felt the temperature drop. Something was out there. Watching me. Following me. If I called out to Cooper now it would know I knew it was there. I was trapped. Nothing I could do. The hiss came again, closer this time and I kicked Quin into gear and we galloped as fast as her long legs would take us in the opposite direction.

Whatever it was was hot on our tail and gaining. I steered Quin toward the river I knew lead to Grandma's house and could just make out Dad's flying pirate ship when I was seized from behind. I screamed as I was lifted off my horse and dangled in the air, legs and arms flailing. Freed of my weight Quin shot forward, and I could only hope she would make it back to Grandma's to warn them of what was happening before it was too late. I squirmed my body, trying to get free and caught a glimpse of a large, scaled head with slitted eyes and a forked tongue. I followed the length of the body down to the ground and back up again until it disappeared behind me where I could feel the tail curled into the back of my shirt, holding me off the ground.

_Serpents have no mercy_, Cooper's words ran through my mind as tried in vain to get free. _They'll drag you back to their nest and do awful things to you until you die, or worse._

What's worse than dying? I remember asking all innocence at age seven.

_They' torture you until your lose your mind. You'll go crazy. It's a fate worse than death. _

How do I get away? I'd asked urgently. How do I escape the serpents?

_You can't do it alone. If you're captured you have to scream for help until it comes or your voice gives out. It's the only way._

"COOPER!" I screamed, kicking my legs out at the serpent. "COOPER THE SERPENTS HAVE ME! COOPER!" I frantically searched the perimeter for signs of Coop. "HELP ME!" I yelled. "COOPER? DADDY? ANYONE?"

Another serpent approached, leaving behind a trail of slime, much like the magical little snails, he hissed at the serpent holding me, narrowing his eyes and the one holding me adjusted it's hold so that its tail was wrapped around my chest and covering my mouth. I bit it, but it didn't seem to notice through the hard scales that covered its body. I tried to scream again, but it was no use. All I could do was kick at the serpent as it dragged me to its submarine and shoved me inside, hissing all the while.

Inside the submarine was another serpent who deftly used the ropes it was holding to tie my legs together and bind my arms to my sides. The serpent that was holding me finally removed its tail from my mouth and I spat at all the eyes I could see before attempting to scream once more. I didn't manage a single sound, however before my nose and mouth was covered in a moist clothe.

_Poison_. My mind whispered. _They're trying to poison me. Don't inhale._ But there was only so long I could hold my breath when I was unprepared like this. As I took a hesitant breath, my gaze travelled to the small window beside me it see Cooper running along the river bank toward us, Princess Astrid right behind him. He was yelling something, but I couldn't hear him and my brain was too muddled to work it out from his lips. "Cooper," I whispered, surprised by how much effort it took to speak as my eye slowly drifted closed and the world around me turned black.

* * *

><p><em>You did such a great job reviewing last chapter. Keep it up. But now I won't be telling what my required amount of reviews is for the next post.<em>


	3. The Dungeon

_Thanks so much for all your feedback! We didn't quite meet my quota of reviews, but as you probably all know by now, I'm a big softie, so I'm giving it to you anyway. That doesn't mean you can slack off, mind. So here we are, chapter 2. Ready to go... But first, I'd like to bring your attention to some little drawings I've done in the last couple of days starring Liam (and Cooper in one of them) the can be found on deviantART... (*fingers crossed this works*) so the url looks something like this... becleigh(dot)deviantart(dot)com(forward slash)#(forward slash) -insert one of the below- _

d3f4izr

d3f2vy1

d3f01j3

**Chapter 2**

There was no way he was going to catch up. He'd realised this even before the Cadillac had sped off down the street and quickly out of sight. Halfway down the next street, without a clue as to which way the car had gone, Cooper slowed to a walk, eyes still glued on the horizon where he'd lost sight of the tail lights. He grabbed the back of his head wrenching it forward and back, taking out his anger and frustration on himself as he kicked at the loose gravel on the road.

"I'm dead," he said disbelievingly. "I'm so incredibly dead. Dad really is going to have my head for this." He threw his hands in the air and turned back towards his grandparent's house, keeping a brisk walk at first to allow him the opportunity to look back over his shoulder on the off chance that the Cadillac would suddenly reappear, thrusting Liam into his arms. "So freaking dead," he added, shaking his head and picking up the pace to a run as he passed Astrid. He was vaguely aware that she was following him, but it didn't matter. What mattered was getting his dad's men on the Cadilllac's trail A.S.A.P.

A sudden thought ran through his head, causing him to curse. "Did you catch a license plate?" he asked Astrid as she caught up to him on the front lawn. He didn't allow her to reply, however as he called out to his father. "Dad! Come quick! It's Liam!"

He'd just made it to the porch steps when Ricardo "Ranger" Manoso stepped out of the screen door followed by his wife, Stephanie Manoso. Cooper silently cursed again; he'd been hoping that he'd have a chance to talk to his dad alone first. He wasn't surprised though. Mama adored her youngest son and hated to see him hurt, so of course she would have come running at his urgent call.

"What is it?" Dad said, a hint of concern on his otherwise blank face. "Where's Liam? What's happened."

"Is that his horse?" Mama added, looking past Cooper to where Astrid stood, carrying two modified brooms. "Oh God. What's happened to my baby?" Now Grandma and Grandpa Plum were on the porch, watching the scene carefully while Grandpa tried to calm Mama down.

Cooper took a deep breath, blocking it all out as he locked eyes with his father. The world faded around him and all sounds fizzled out so that it was as if only the two of them existed. "Liam's been kidnapped," he stated as calmly as he could, considering the amount of adrenaline coursing through his body. Before Ranger could ask questions, Cooper continued, getting out all the information he had so that he was not solely responsible for remembering it. "There were four men. Various builds. They grabbed him, stuffed him into a car and drove off."

"Make and model," Ranger prompted routinely, pushing aside all emotion until he had all the facts and could do something about it.

Hesitating a moment as he attempted to recall all the details he'd seen, Cooper closed his eyes. "I think it was a Cadillac Seville. Brown."

"License plate?"

Cooper shook his head sadly, feeling like a failure. "I didn't think to look."

"It had none, sir," Astrid said, stepping up beside her boyfriend. "There were no license plates on the car."

Dad nodded and pulled out is cell phone, turning to go back inside. "Put the brooms away and meet me in the dining room," he said over his shoulder, knowing that everyone would hear him.

Cooper turned to Astrid and took the broom from her hands. "You should probably go home," he suggested quietly. "You don't wanna be late for dinner."

"What about Liam?" she asked nervously.

"We'll find him," Cooper assured her, making his way around the side of the house toward the shed. He'd put the brooms away and was locking up again when he remembered bottle caps in the little pouch attached to his belt. Quickly climbing up the ladder that leaned against the side of the shed, he crossed to the loose section of shingles, dropping the pouch in with the rest of his brother's treasures. With one last look at the assortment of items he jumped off the roof and jogged to the kitchen door. He made his way through the room, still warmed from the cooking that had taken place there and into the dining room. Dinner was laid out on the table, all seven place settings glaring at him, emphasising Liam's absence.

"Eat something, Coop," Grandpa insisted, pushing the mashed potatoes in his direction.

He shook his head and stayed standing, watching his great grandmother shakily shovel some mashed up food into her mouth. Next to Grandma Mazur was Grandma Plum, encouraging Mama to eat. There were tears in her eyes and tracked down her cheeks, but she reluctantly chewed the small pieces of pot roast. "Liam isn't eating dinner so neither am I," Cooper stated, moving around the table to stand next to his father, who had his laptop where his plate should be. "I deserve to be punished."

"Starving yourself isn't the way," Dad said, hitting a few keys. "If you want to be punished I'll ground you starting the moment we get Liam back. Until then, eat. You need to keep your strength up."

"Right," Cooper scoffed. "Strength. Everyone knows I'm a weakling. I didn't make the football team. I got smashed at wrestling try outs. The best I can do is run and even that didn't save Liam."

Dad stopped typing and set his glasses aside, spearing Cooper with a gentle gaze. "You're one of the strongest kids I know."

"You haven't met Dirk Johnson then," Cooper muttered rolling his eyes.

"That's enough of that," Grandpa said firmly, pushing Cooper into the nearest chair. "You're not weak. You're a hero. More importantly, you're Liam's hero. Most boys your age would brush a kid like Liam aside, but you don't. You engage in his world without a spare thought as to what your peers will think of you. That takes an even greater strength than the kind needed to bash heads in."

Dad squeezed Cooper's shoulder as Grandpa started putting together two plates. "I never expected you to be a meat head," he assured him. "Besides, you're a star on the track and you're smart. What more could I want. Now eat," he added as Grandpa put one of the plates down in front of Cooper and handed the other to Dad. "Liam needs us."

Cooper had barely taken a bit of his dinner when there was a pounding on the front door.

!

I opened my eyes to the sight of a grotty, unfamiliar ceiling. My first thought was that I'd fallen asleep playing hide and seek with Cooper. Again. But then I realised that I was lying on a lumpy mattress and Dad's ceilings were rarely dirty and unfamiliar. The smile that had been curving my lips disappeared as the memories of the serpents' attack returned to me, making me cringe. The slimy, scaled beings had seized me and shoved me into their submarine, poisoning me to make me fall asleep, probably so that I wouldn't see where they were taking me. They were probably still hanging about, too.

At the thought, I felt the urge to check my surroundings. I swung my head to the side and gasped as the whirly birds danced before my eyes. I was still recovering from their poison. Blinking away the canaries, I focused on the room beyond. There were two chairs set at a table that seemed to be covered in the Food of Gods. My mouth watered and my stomach growled as I took in the many boxes and packets making me remember that I hadn't eaten dinner yet. And it was all their fault. I was supposed to attend the Grand Sunday Feast at Grandma and Grandpa's house, but these stupid serpents had stolen me away instead.

Rubbing sore eyes, I wriggled into a sitting position against the pillows. From that vantage point I could take in more of the room. It looked like a glorified dungeon – all grungy and disgusting. Anything that would have normally opened had a lock on it. Useless to me. The only plus side to this situation was that there were no serpents in the dungeon with me. They were somewhere nearby though; I could see the fresh slime trails throughout the room.

I crept to the door that led to the world beyond my dungeon, surprised to find it ajar. Either these serpents had top-notch security or they were really stupid. Cooper says that all serpents are stupid, so I was betting these ones were too. Careful not to move the door too much, I stuck my head out into the main room. The lighting wasn't good and the angle was weird, but I was pretty sure I could make out four serpents. Two long skinny ones, a short, fat one and a skinny, stumpy one. They were gathered around something in the middle of the room, their fat heads practically touching. I could just make out their hissing over the blare of the television and the odd thumping from somewhere beyond.

_You're small, kiddo_, Cooper's voice floated through my head. _It's your biggest advantage in this world. People – serpents, sloths and dragons – will always underestimate you. You have to play to their instincts._

I nodded, as if I he was speaking to me right now, and ducked my head back inside my dungeon. My first stop was the table, quickly stuffing some Tastykakes into my mouth and chewing vigorously as I reached for the bottle of water in the middle. I swallowed the food as I crossed to the bed, climbing back in and pulling up the covers. Luckily, the water was room temperature so it wasn't such a shock as I poured the contents onto my pants. The wet feeling was uncomfortable, but I had to just put up with it. My plan had to work.

As I made sure the sheet under me and the doona on top of me were both at least damp, I began looking around for a place to stash the bottle. My gaze found the headboard behind me and I noticed the gap between the bed and the wall. It was big enough to fit the bottle down it, but not so big that the serpents would look down there for no good reason. Using the last few drops of liquid too make it look like I had tears in my eyes, I shoved the bottle down the gap and sat in the ramrod straight, panicked position I had perfected for Cooper and my role plays.

"Mama!" I screamed, gripping the sheets on either side of me and thinking of all the sad things I could in order to make myself cry. Kittens with missing ears. Homeless puppies. Never seeing my family again. No donuts for afternoon tea. A sob made my chest hurt. "Mama!" I yelled again, genuine tears pricking at my eyes.

A lady dragon wrenched the door open, her naturally sparkly scales dull and ragged. She huffed out a puff of smoke and glared at me. "Shut it, would ya?" she grouched, surprising me with her raspy voice. It sounded so human. And she spoke English! Usually dragons only glared and puffed smoke at me.

"Where's my mama?" I asked, my voice trembling. "Who are you?"

"She's not here. What do you want?" Again, I was surprised by the human quality of the dragon's voice.

"I want my Mama."

"Viv, what the hell is going on in there?" someone called from the room outside.

"Kid want's his Mommy," the dragon named Viv replied over her shoulder. Then she came a little closer to the bed. I shrank away on instinct, pulling covers up a little. "What's wrong kid?"

I cast my gaze down, trying to dredge up the appropriate amount of shame and embarrassment for a kid who's just wet the bed. For that matter, a kid who's just wet someone else's bed. "I... I..." I stammered pitifully. "I, um..."

Viv grunted and blew out another puff of smoke. "Come on, boy, out with it."

"I wet the bed," I wailed, covering my eyes and hunching over. "Please don't be mad at me."

There was silence followed by the distinct sound of serpents slithering nearer. I looked up through my tear laden lashes to find all four of them crowded up behind the lady dragon. "Did I just hear that right?" the stumpy one hissed in her direction. "He wet the bed?"

"Does the motel charge extra for that?" one of the long skinny ones asked. "I'm not footing the bill if they do."

"I want my mama," I cried, looking pleadingly up into the fat serpents eyes, they were softer than the rest, a calming shade of blue, almost the same colour as Mama's and Cooper's eyes. Another sob broke forth at the realisation. "I want Cooper!"

"Someone's gotta clean the kid up," a skinny serpent hissed to his brethren. "And it's not gonna be me."

There was a course of 'Not it' and a muffled curse. "Fine," the fat one grumble-hissed. "I'll do it."

"Make it quick," the she-dragon rasped. "She'll be here in an hour."

* * *

><p><em>How many reviews will get you another update? Good question. Review and find out.<em>


	4. Revealing the Hidden

_Amazingly, I found time to write this chapter in amongst lesson planning and teaching. Probably - like always - I should have used the time to work on the assignments that are waiting for me, but I ignored them and used the time to write. I hope you enjoy it, because I don't know when I'll be able to get another one out._

**Chapter 3**

The pounding stopped and Ranger looked over at his father-in-law questioningly. It wasn't often that dinner in the Plum house was interrupted by anyone but a Plum or Manoso. Bizarre happenings were a staple in the family, but usually that happened at the table where everyone was already seated, not on the other side of the door. At the other end of the table his wife was looking between the door and Ranger, he could tell she was anxious to know who was so urgently needed them to open the door. They all sat there staring between each other for a long moment before the knocking resumed this time accompanied by a young female voice calling out various names.

"Cooper? Mr. Manoso? Mr. Plum? Hello? Anyone?" 

"That's Astrid," Cooper said, sounding a little confused. "She was supposed to be going home. Her folks would be putting dinner on the table right around now."

"She definitely wants something," Frank commented, "You better go let her in."

As Cooper made his way out of the room Ranger put his plate down and followed a respectable distance behind. He understood his son's need for privacy when it came to his girlfriend, but given the events of the evening he felt better knowing he was within range with a gun at hand in case things went awry.

Ranger was near the stairs in the entrance way when Cooper opened the door to reveal a very bright eyed girl. Her face was flushed, her breathing was a little labored and she looked relieved to see the two of them standing there.

"I thought you were on our way home for dinner."

Astrid nodded, taking a deep breath and holding up what looked like either an iPhone or iPod, Ranger could never quite tell the difference between the two without having them both there for reference. "I was on my way when found this," she said excitedly. "I thought I'd have a peek inside to see if I could work out who's it was and guess what I found." As she spoke her attention was on the device, sliding her finger along the screen one moment and tapping at it the next. The speed at which she worked amazed Ranger, despite having been exposed to how tech-savvy his own son was. "Whoever owns it is extremely stupid," she was saying as continued her rapid finger movements. "They didn't even bother to put a security pass code on it."

He may not completely understand the new fan-dangled technology, but one thing he definitely understood was security. As Astrid held out the device he found himself agreeing with her on the stupidity of it's owner. Only a fool didn't put a pass code on an iPhone. He moved closer to stand behind his son so he could see the screen and almost gasped when he caught sight of it. There in his son's girlfriend's hand was Liam's smiling face.

"That Liam," Cooper said, almost dumbly. "There's photos of Liam on this phone."

Ranger took the phone from Astrid and stared at his little boy, smiling so happily. He swiped his finger across the screen to bring up the next photo and there was Liam again, this time in his school uniform, carrying a ball. He looked like he was playing a game with his friends (whether they were imaginary or not was beside the point). Another swipe brought up another picture of Liam. And another. And another.

"That one's from two weeks ago," Astrid said nervously, looking over Ranger's shoulder. "I remember because it was my Mom's birthday. I went home and told her about Liam's cute dinosaur hoodie."

"Someone's been stalking my son," Ranger managed to say, his voice and face devoid of any emotion. He heard his wife call his name and realised she was no longer seated at the table but was moving toward him. Quickly, so as not to cause her any undue stress, he blanked the screen just like Cooper had showed him.

"Is everything alright?" Stephanie asked as she reached the hall where they were all standing. "I thought I heard you mention Liam." She looked around, a glimmer of hope quickly dying in her eyes as she searched for her son.

Ranger was about to make up an excuse when Cooper cut in. "Astrid found a phone on the way home," Cooper informed his mother. "We think it might have been dropped by one of the kidnappers." To his father he added, "We should probably get it to Uncle Hector to see if he can hack into it."

Nodding, Ranger silently thanked whatever powers that were responsible for his son having inherited his talent for thinking on his feet. Unfortunately, Cooper tended to use what Ranger had come to recognise as his 'talking to Liam' voice whenever he lied or stretched the truth. Convenient when it came to the rare occasions Cooper tried to lie to him, not so convenient if Steph recognised it for what it was right now. Thankfully, Steph was a little too stressed about the whole situation to notice.

"We need to go home," she uttered, half in a daze as she turned back to the dining room. "Mom, we have to go. We have a lead and we need to check it out."

Helen Plum's voice drifted through the air as she hurried past them to the kitchen. "I'll just put your dinners into a container," she said over the banging of plastic ware. "You can eat it when you get home."

"Thank you, Helen," Ranger said softly, handing the iPhone to his son. "We'll wait for you to finish."

"Astrid, dear," Helen called. "Have you let your parents know where you are? I'd hate for Carol to be unnecessarily worried about you. Go ahead and use the hall phone."

Ranger suddenly found himself locking gazes with the young girl as she turned her attention to him instead of the phone. "I'd like to help," she said firmly. It was a demand disguised as a request, a skill he'd noticed on several occasions while listening to her interact with his son. "I think I can be useful in your search."

He wanted to argue, to tell her she was wrong, but the determined set to her mouth and the obvious affection she'd shown to both his sons had him rethinking that urge. Not only that, Cooper's girlfriend was very observant and had a knack for technology. Who knew what they would achieve if he set her up to work alongside Hector.

"Call your folks and okay it with them. If they agree we'll stop by and you can grab your school uniform for tomorrow on the way home."

"Dad," Cooper objected. "How can you think of school at a time like this? Liam is missing!"

"And we're going to find him before you know it, that's doesn't mean you should be skipping school."

!

As the rest of the serpents slithered from the room, I locked eyes with the fat one. His forked tongue darted out of his mouth nervously as the others filed past him. Once we were alone, he came closer to the bed.

"Who are you?" I asked, shuffling back away from him until my back was against the headboard. Fat serpent kept coming. "What do you want from me?"

"None of that's important," he hissed gently. "For now, we need to get you cleaned up."

I shook my head, trying in vain to move further away as he reached for me with his sliming, scale-ridden tail. "Mama said not to talk to strangers. I don't think I should go with you. I should be here. I want my mama."

The serpent grimaced – an odd look on his reptilian face – and retracted his tail, backing up a few feet.

"Hey," he tried to soothe. "Shh. It's okay. I get it. My mama told me not to talk to strangers too, but if I introduce myself we won't be strangers anymore, will we Liam?"

I felt my jaw drop and my eyes widen. "How do you know my name?" I demanded, noting that my voice was sounding like what Cooper would call shrill. I scrambled off the bed and tried to back further away, scared of what kinds of things he could do to me if he got a hold of me this time, but the room was so small that I quickly came up against a wall. "Don't come any closer!" I exclaimed as he started around the bed.

Fat Serpent stopped where he was, looking toward the door. The others were quiet out there for the first time since leaving the room. My guess was that they'd heard me getting loud and stopped to listen. When Fat Serpent turned back to look at me his face was softer than before. It was starting to look vaguely human if I squinted at it and tilted my head to the side. He made no move to close the distance between us, instead taking a step away.

"My name is Justin," He said quietly. "I know your name because we've been watching you for a while now."

"You're a spy?" I asked hesitantly. Daddy had warned me about spies and their ability to look like a good guy when they were really evil or (on the rare occasion) the other way round. He said never to trust them. Once he told me a story about a spy who he though was evil but ended up being good until he started double crossing or something and then he was evil but Daddy and his team of ninjas thought he was good. Kind of like coming full circle, as my teacher would say. If Fat Serpent was a spy I'd have to make my escape as soon as possible. I glanced up at him again and decided that I'd have to make my escape as soon as possible no matter what he was.

"No," he said, shaking his head from side to side. "No, we've been watching you because we thought you might be eligible for this exciting new vacation we have to offer."

I tried to watch his face, like Uncle Lester taught me, to try to work out if he was lying or not, but it hard. I wasn't very good at it when I was watching human faces, and it was so much harder on reptiles. Their faces were just so different. I thought I saw a bit of the eye thing Uncle Lester once mentioned, but I couldn't be sure.

"Are you lying?" I asked, crinkling my brow in concentration as I watched more carefully.

"Scouts honour," he said, holding up his hand.

"Did you ask Mama and Daddy?" I was still trying to decide whether he was being honest with me.

Blinking quickly, he replied, "We thought we'd keep this a secret just for a little while." Again, he looked over his back toward the door. "We really need to get you cleaned up before the boss arrives.

I crossed my arms over my chest, in part I just needed to feel like I was being hugged, but I also felt like it was protecting me. "I don't trust you," I told him. "I always have to tell Mama and Daddy where I'm going."

"You have every right not to trust me," he said, and I could tell right away that he was being honest with me. He swiped the end of his tail along his face before continuing. "If you come with me to the bathroom to get cleaned up I'll tell you all about me and then we won't be strangers and more. Will you trust me then?"

"Maybe," I admitted. As much as I wanted to just tell him no, I couldn't. Every time I looked into his face he looked more human, and Grandma told me never to be impolite to humans. I was torn between his too human eyes and his entirely serpent body. To try to solve the problem, I looked down at the floor, determined to block out his image in order to think clearly, but I inadvertently caught sight of the wet patch on my pants in the process. I grimaced. Here I was, being kept away from my family and friends, waiting for a mystery something to come and do God knows what with me, and my pants were wet. Usually, it wouldn't be such a problem because Mama always made sure I had clean, dry set of clothes in case I got dirty or wet or something, but Mama wasn't here now, nor had she packed my bag for me to come here. All I had to wear was what was already on me, and they were wet.

"Why are you crying?" Fat Serpent asked, sounding closer than when I last looked. I glanced up at him and saw that his face was almost entirely human now. That scared me. I was fairly certain he was a spy and his changing image was only making me more nervous.

Sniffing, I swiped at whatever was tickling my cheek, finding my hand wet when I pulled it away. I was cry.

"What's wrong?" he asked, a little softer. "Can you tell me what's wrong?"

I looked into his pale blue eyes and clearly saw concern. "My pants are wet," I told him miserably. "And I don't have any others."

Fat Serpent looked like he was having a realisation as he too looked down at my pants. He stood up from the kneeling position he'd taken in front of me and held out his hand. I looked at it and pressed back into the wall a little more.

"My name is Justin," he informed me once more. "My wife and I are going to have a baby soon and I hope he's as adorable as you."

I shook my head, sidling along the wall to get away from him. "No," I said, staring at the hand. "No, I can't go with you."

"Why can't you go with me, Liam?" he asked.

My gaze travelled down his body, taking in his scaled torso his arms and the long slithering tail that followed. He was even more human now. If this kept progressing there wouldn't be any serpent left in him. I wasn't sure what it meant, but I definitely know I shouldn't go with him. Anyone who could change what they looked like that dramatically couldn't be trusted.

Looking back up at his face, staring into his pale blue eyes, I said, "Shape shifters can't be trusted. They're worse than spies."

"I'm not a shape shifter or a spy," he said. "I'm just a guy who's been caught up with the wrong crowd. And I want to help you. Come with me and we'll find you some clean clothes to wear."

"Promise you won't hurt me?" I asked, not looking away from his eyes. Uncle Lester said they were the window to the soul and the key to finding out if someone was lying or not.

"I promise, Liam," he said solemnly.

* * *

><p><em>Feedback? That'd be nice. What did you all think? Any predictions for the future? Thanks for being so patient.<em>


	5. Car Crash

_So I finished my teaching prac last week and have had a blissful week of pretty much nothing this week. I've caught up on some reading. Done some shopping. Just really relaxing stuff (ignoring all the assignments that are now looming before me). As you can see, I've written you all another chapter of this story, which was really easy because the first part of it I wrote not long after the original idea for the story was concieved. I also wrote a chapter that is to be the beginning of the sequel to Twice as Much as Half. My bestie, Shreek, says I should probably wait and finish this one before I post it though... Anyway. Time to see how things are going back at Rangeman..._

**Chapter 4**

Cooper stared at the photo as a flood of memories cascaded through his mind, each one making his chest hurt just that little bit more.

_He was nine years old, riding in the back of Ya Ya's car. In each hand he held a plastic dinosaur, thrashing together as he made growling and roaring noises. Liam, strapped securely into the child safety seat beside Cooper, was leaning forward to watch what he was doing._

_"Ya Ya!" Cooper remembered calling out. "Ya Ya! Look what I can make them do!" He made the t-rex hit violently against the stegosaurus, growling some more as the t-rex attempted to devour it's plastic prey. "Look, Ya Ya! He's eating him! Grrrrr!"_

_His grandmother glanced at him in the rear view mirror, smiling affectionately. "_Muy bien_,Cooper," she'd praised. "That t-rex must be very hungry."_

_"He is!" Cooper exclaimed excitedly. "And when he's finished with Steggie he'll move on to eating Liam! Rarr! And then _you_! GRRR!"_

_The car pulled up to a set of lights and Cooper leaned forward, miming the dinosaurs' continued battle closer to the front seat so his Ya Ya could see better. "Dinosaurs were massive," he informed her. "I learned that in school. They could prob'ly eat you in one bite."_

_"Is that so?" she asked, looking over her shoulder at him._

_Cooper remember her happy, affectionate face morphing into one of horror as she caught sight of something out the back window. He didn't have time to turn and look, however, before whatever it was impacted with the rear end of the car, jerking him back against the seat. Panic took over as the car they were in kept moving forward out of his grandmother's control. Another car collided with the front side of the car as they careened through the intersection. He heard his baby brother's screaming and his ya ya's sudden cry of pain as they stopped moving. The second car had succeeded in knocking them out of the way of the car pushing them forward, possibly saving all their lives._

_"Are you okay, Cooper?" Ya Ya had asked after a few moments, not looking over at him. "Are you hurt at all?"_

_"I'm fine, Ya Ya," he's assured her over Liam's continued crying. "Not hurt."_

_"Good." She'd sounded relieved. "Climb into the front seat and get my cell phone. You need to call Daddy."_

_Cooper sat very still for a moment, trying to remember something he'd learned in school._

_"Cooper?" Ya Ya called._

_"We're supposed to call 911," he'd told her._

_Ya Ya nodded faintly. "I know, but someone else already has. Call Daddy and tell him to come to the hospital."_

_Listening to the hiccupping of his little brother amongst the mayhem of sound coming from outside the car - people shouting, cars honking, sirens coming closer - Cooper carefully climbed up to the front of the car and dug through his grandmother's handbag for her phone. He quickly typed in his father's number and put the phone to his ear before looking up and catching his first glance of his Ya Ya's face. She was very pale and there was a line of blood running down the side of her face from her hair line._

_"Yo," came his Dad's voice from inside the phone._

_"Ya Ya's hurt bad," he said, panicking again. "Her head is bleeding and Liam won't stop crying."_

_As his father yelled a rapid string of commands at someone on his end, Ya Ya reminded Cooper to tell him about the hospital. The events that followed happened too quickly for a nine year old to fully comprehend what was going on. Before he knew it he was waking up cradled against his mother's chest. His surroundings were clean smelling and vibrant, but unfamiliar, the soft voices he heard were not. He recognised the sound of his mother's voice close to his head sounding tired and worried, followed by his father's strong, reassuring reply._

_"Where's Ya Ya?" Cooper had asked, straightening a little in his mother's arms. "Is she alright?"_

_"She's fine, baby," Mama had assured him, brushing a lock of hair from his forehead and placing a kiss there. "Just a bump on the head and a few bruises. She's at home with Yo Yo."_

_"She was bleeding," he'd informed her, wriggling off her lap to lean against her side from the seat next to her. From there he could see his Dad, standing a few feet away with hardly an emotion on his face. "Her face was covered in blood."_

_"I know," Mama had said, squeezing him a little tighter. "It was just a little scratch. Head wounds tend to bleed a lot."_

_Cooper had started to nod his understanding but stopped abruptly when he noticed something missing. "Where's Liam?" he asked urgently, sitting up straight in his chair and looking around._

_"He's resting," Mama told him gently. "Just over there, see?"_

_Slowing his frantic searching, Cooper followed his mother's pointing finger to the bed not far away where a small form was lying, a sheet pulled up to his chin and a bandage wrapped around his little head. "Liam," he'd breathed, kneeling in his chair to get a better look, but not daring to move closer._

_Things were never quite the same after that..._

"Coop?" came a gentle voice, breaking him out of his memory. "Are you alright?"

Blinking away the image of his baby brother in that hospital bed, wrapped up in bandages all because of him, he turned to see his mother and girlfriend standing there, watching him.

It was approaching midnight and Cooper been sitting around, useless, for most of the night. His mother had been flitting about helping Ella supply the guys with food and drink to keep them going. The change of shifts for the men should have been hours ago, but in light of the current situation most of them had volunteered to stay on and help the search and investigation. Even his girlfriend was proving to be of more use than himself. She had that gift with technology and had been holed up in Hector's tech lab, speaking in her native language. Geek.

As for Cooper, he'd taken himself up to the seventh floor an hour ago, thinking if he couldn't help with the investigation he could at least put his dainty hands to good use and make up some posters. He'd been looking through the albums looking for a suitable photo to use when he'd come across the section he usually avoided. The section that documented the very thing that weighed on his mind every single day.

A tear leaked out the corner of his eye as he pushed the album away. With a short sniff, he wiped his face and swallowed the lump in his throat.

"I'm fine," Cooper said, standing from his position on the floor between the couch and the coffee table. "Have they gotten any further on the call recording?"

A couple hours ago, a call had come through to the control centre from an unknown number. When Ghost had answered it he'd been met with a voice he didn't recognise informing him that there was someone on his end that wanted to talk to Ranger. Ghost had immediately transferred the call to the tech lab where Ranger was working with Hector and Astrid on the iPhone. In the process of transferring the call to the tech lab where Ranger had been working with Hector and Astrid, Ghost had ensured to hit the record button for the phone the call would now be going to. It wasn't standard procedure to record calls, but he'd had a gut feeling about it and set it up anyway.

Ranger was fuming when he'd hung up the phone five minutes later. He'd managed to speak to his little boy for only a few moments, and unfortunately, given unique view of the world, none of the information he'd relayed had been useful, just rambling about serpents and the like.

Cooper had asked to listen to the recording of the conversation, but had been denied, his father insisting that Carter didn't need to get any 'bright ideas' about running off to be the hero. Astrid wasn't allowed to hear it either. Ranger sent Lester and Junior into a separate work room to listen to it, do technological things to it in order to discern squeaks from slams in the background and essentially be secretive about the whole thing.

"Nothing yet," Astrid said, coming over to stand beside him. "I can't believe your dad won't let you listen to it. It's just a recorded conversation. What are you going to do with it?"

From the doorway, his mother cleared her throat delicately and said, "It's a precaution. Carlos fears that due to a hereditary genetic compulsion Cooper would be unable to stop himself from racing to the rescue if he were to hear something even remotely useful on the recording."

Shaking his head, Cooper countered, "Mama, that's a whole lot of technical jargon – that you could have choked on I might add – that pretty much says that Dad doesn't trust me."

"He trusts you, Coop. It's my genes he doesn't trust."

Exhaustion and frustration combined caused him to snap at his mother, something he would never have done under normal circumstances. "I just want to listen to the damn recording, Mama. Is that a crime? Is it so bad that I want to hear my little brother's voice?"

Astrid placed a calm hand on Cooper's forearm as he went to turn away. "We'll find him," she assured him. "One way or another, we'll find him. We'll spread the word at school tomorrow. Everyone will be on the lookout for him."

Just then, the landline rang. They all stared at it, as if it was about to jump off the end table and strangle them. After a tense moment, Stephanie – the closest of the three – reached out and picked up the receiver.

"Stephanie Manoso speaking," she said tentatively. She listened as the person on the other end of the line spoke, her eyes finding Cooper after a moment. "Right, I'll send him down." She hung up and took a deep breath. "You may just get your wish," she informed him. "That was Les, they're at a loss with the recording and managed to talk your Dad into letting you listen. Apparently they're trying to interpret what Liam was saying, hoping for clues, but aren't having much luck. Since you're the expert on everything in Liam's world they want a consult."

Taking one last look at the album on the coffee table, allowing the events of seven years ago to flash through his mind yet again, he nodded resolutely and started toward the door. If there was something he could do to help his little brother, he sure as hell was going to do it. It was the least he could do to make up for the past.

Steph, having entered the living room properly as Cooper was leaving and caught sight of the photo album, called after him, "No one blames you, Coop. You've gotta stop blaming yourself."

* * *

><p><em>Let me know your thoughts on the chapterstory. I love reading feedback. _


	6. Bed Time

_YES! I AM STILL ALIVE! So, finished my teaching prac. Had a week of holidays. And should be starting on my assignments this week, getting them out of the way so I don't have to stress anymore... but you know me. Assignment due? Gosh, must be time to update a story. So here we go. It's been half done for ages and I've slowly finished it over the last few days. So stop reading here, and start reading down there. _

**Chapter 5**

It was super late at night and I was all alone in the palace chamber where they'd put me as soon as the Dragon Lady was finished proclaiming her joy over the fact that her serpent minions had succeeded in capturing me. I was surprised she'd allowed me to stay in the chamber and not have me sent to the dungeon, but also glad for it. I'd been in a palace dungeon before and it was scarier than the third floor of Daddy's tower, where he kept all the lunatics. Dungeons were the only known habitat of Daleks. Fortunately, due to reasons beyond my comprehension, Dungeon-Dwelling-Daleks couldn't move; that didn't mean they weren't scary as hell, though.

Fat Serpent, who was looking more and more humanoid every time I saw him, came in about an hour ago to give me a drink of milk and tell me to go to sleep, but I couldn't. I hadn't hugged Daddy and kissed Mama. Nobody had read me a story and I couldn't even read one to myself because there were no books in here. I missed Sunday night red rover with Cooper and the Uncle-Ninjas. I missed dinner with Grandma and Grandpa and the old Griffin. Thinking of them all and how they weren't here with me just made me want to go home.

When we were out at the treasure cove Fat Serpent called home and let me talk to Daddy. I told him all about how I missed him and Mama and Cooper and everyone else. I told him I wished they were here with me so I wouldn't be so scared. I told him I about all the slimy serpents and how they looked at me all weird and slit eyed. I told him about how Fat Serpent was buying me knew clothes from the treasure cove because the ones I was wearing were wet and Mama hadn't packed any spares. I told him about the room at the palace, because I'd realised it was a palace as we were driving away from it to get clothes. And then the other serpent with us had snatched the phone away from me with his tail and turned it off, all the while telling Fat Serpent off.

When we got back to the palace the Dragon Lady was there looking impatient until she saw me. She'd spent the rest of the time I was amongst them stroking my hair and looking directly into my eyes. It was creepy. I didn't like it. Not one bit. I sat there biting my lip until she sent me to bed. That was at least a couple of hours ago and I could still hear them talking out in the sitting area.

To pass time, I ended up thinking of all Daddy's rules. Then Cooper's rules. And then Mama's rules after that. Reviewing all their rules kept me calm. It assured me that if something happened I would be able to remember what I was supposed to do. I was in the middle of recalling the ninja rule when the door to my room opened. I'd had a feeling it would eventually; there were two beds in the room, plus if they were good spies-or-whatever-they-were, they wouldn't leave me alone all night. I might try to escape if they did.

I looked up from my position in the middle of the massive bed to find Dragon Lady standing in the doorway with Fat Serpent directly behind her.

"Sweetie, what are you still doing up?" Dragon Lady enquired almost sweetly. "It's midnight, you should have been asleep hours ago." Not sure what she was up to, I stayed silent, just sitting on the bed, staring at her scaly head. A few minutes past during which time her strange features changed from pleasant to not so pleasant. Eventually, she turned to face Fat Serpent. "Justin, do something. He always listens to you. He does what you say. He needs to go to sleep."

"He's gotta be frightened, Katie. We've reefed him away from his family. He probably misses them."

"What am I supposed to do about that?" she snapped and I saw her scales ripple all down her back before she spoke again, sounding much more calm. "What can I do to help ease him?" she asked with more false sweetness.

Fat Serpent looked past the Dragon Lady to where I sat, exactly where I had been when they opened the door. He watched me for a heart beat as I hugged my knees up to my chest before returning his attention to the dragon between us. "Leave it to me," he said softly. "Go home to Gavin. Get some rest. I'll settle Liam down. Keep watch over him tonight and tomorrow you can come back and spend some time with him. How does that sound?"

"But-," she protested, but Fat Serpent held up his hand, a solemn expression on his ever morphing face.

"I won't let him leave," he assured her. "Everything will be alright. Trust me."

"You promise?" Dragon Lady pressed, sounding almost desperate.

"I promise," he pledged. "I'll take care of things. Just like when Mom died. Just like when -."

"Don't," she warned. "Don't you dare bring that up. You promised you wouldn't ever mention that. Just make sure he sleeps. That's all I'm asking, okay? I don't need you to look after me. I don't need you to make everything all right."

Before Fat Serpent could say anything else, Dragon Lady slammed passed him into the other room. I heard the other serpents calling good-byes to her as she made her way through the other room to the outer door. There was silence for a full minute after the door slammed shut. Finally, the other serpents started to talk again; it sounded like they were sorting out sleeping arrangements. With a last look over his shoulder, Fat Serpent closed the bedroom door and came over to sit on the edge of my bed. For a moment, he just sat there, staring at the door, rubbing his thumb, then he moved so that he could see me.

"I can't sleep until someone reads me a story," I told him. "It's Cooper's turn tonight. Cooper always reads to me on Sundays."

"I could read you a story if you like," he offered, but I shook my head. It wouldn't be the same. "What will it take to get you to go to sleep?" he asked.

I thought carefully about it. Daddy and Cooper had trained me well for this sort of situation. I just had to remember their words of wisdom. Fat Serpent was giving me the freedom to ask for whatever I wanted if I'll just go to sleep. I had to choose wisely. This could be what I needed to get out and back to Mama, Daddy and Cooper.

Looking back up at Fat Serpent, I saw him waiting almost anxiously. "I wanna talk to Princess Astrid," I said, confident I'd made the right choice. Daddy didn't understand me most of the time. Cooper got stressed and freaked out whenever I tell him things and do things that he doesn't like. Mama wouldn't handle it well either. Princess Astrid always understood.

"Princess Astrid?" Fat Serpent asked, confused. "Kid, I don't have access to royalty. What makes you think you could possibly talk to her?"

I drew my eyebrows together like Cooper always did when he was told he couldn't do something, but knew he could. "I was talking to her today," I told him, deepening my frown. I imagined I looked like one of those wrinkly dogs by now, with all the creases I was forcing into my face. "I talk to her all the time. She's Cooper's girlfriend. I don't know what a beautiful princess like her sees in a measly knight like Cooper."

Fat Serpent stared at me a moment. "So she's not really a princess."

"She is too!" I told him. "Princess Astrid is the prettiest princess in all the world!" I paused in thought. "No," I added, adamant. "More than that. She's the prettiest princess in all of America! And she's kind too. She saved me from the evil, metal-toothed monkeys when Cooper wasn't there."

He wasn't looking at me anymore. He was staring down at his phone oracle. "What's her name?" he asked.

"Princess Astrid," I reminded him, exasperated.

"What's her last name?"

I gave a shrug. "She's in Cooper's class at school. He goes to big school, not little school like me."

!

She'd just pushed the door to the tech lab open and was about to ask the guys there if they wanted any refreshments when her phone rang. The screen displayed an unknown number, making her hesitate. Generally, if she didn't know the number, she let it go to voicemail and then decided if she wanted to ring them back, but something in her gut was telling her to answer it. Cooper looked up from the bench he sat at, headphones covering her ears. He always knew when she was around, even when she made no sound at all. He gave her a slight smile. "He's in a Hotel or Motel," he said loudly, oblivious to her ringing phone. "And he's been to WalMart because he wet the bed."

Astrid nodded and looked once more at the ringing phone in her hand. Working purely on instinct, she pressed the "answer" button and held it to her ear. "Hello?" she greeted. "Astrid speaking."

"Princess Astrid!" came Liam's shrill cry. "I thought you weren't going to answer. You took so long!"

A gasp stole Astrid's ability to reply straight away. She locked eyes with Cooper across the room before moving her gaze to an almost frazzled looking Ranger and two very tired looking Rangemen. "Liam?" she asked cautiously. "Are you alright?" That caught the attention of everyone in the room. Cooper whipped off his headphones and practically hurdled over the bench toward her, demanding she put the phone on speaker.

"I'm fine," Liam told her happily. "Fat Serpent is taking care of me. I don't trust him. He's a shape shifter and he's being really nice to me. Daddy says I shouldn't trust shape shifters or spies – which he could be as well – especially the nice ones, because they're only pretending to be nice."

Astrid struggled to pay attention to what Liam was saying, knowing that there could be something important buried in even the most outrageous or incoherent statement, but it was difficult with four sets of hands and faces waving at her to let them listen. "Okay, Liam," she said, turning to face the wall in order to concentrate better. "I need you to tell me where you are.

There was a soft murmuring voice on the other end of the line, sounding like someone was talking to Liam, probably warning him not to say anything. "I'm in a castle, Princess Astrid. A really big one, with a swimming pool and a heap of skeletal devil horses in the paddock. The old Griffoness would love it here."

"That's great, Liam," Astrid assured him enthusiastically. The little guy was already on to the fact that something wasn't quite right here, there was no use in freaking him out by demanding information from him. Pleasantness is key. "Is there a pretty sign in front of the castle? Does the castle have a name?"

"It might," Liam said thoughtfully. "I think it starts with 'S'."

"It begins with 'S' does it?" Astrid said conversationally. "Could you read the name of it? Or was it a difficult word?" Liam was quiet for a moment, but there was that murmur in the background again. "Liam, who are you with?" she asked.

"Fat Serpent," he replied solemnly, then after a pause, "His name is Justin."

"Justin?" Astrid repeated, hoping the men behind her were taking in all the information and making a note of anything she said. "Is there anyone else?"

"No," he said. "Just me and... Fat Serpent. Dragon Lady went away a while ago. She's scary."

"How is she scary?"

"She does things like what Mama does, but its not right because she doesn't love me and she's mean. She snaps at people a lot. I don't think she gets fed enough. And she looks at me weird. I've-."

The line went dead. Still holding the cell phone in her hand, she turned slowly to face the male population of the room. "Hotel or Motel. Possibly starting with S. Lots of motorbikes in the car park. Swimming pool. Fat guy named Justin. Obviously spending a lot of time with Liam, said he was a 'shape shifter'."

It was a well known fact around here that it took Liam's eyes a while to adjust to what they were seeing. What he thought he saw in the beginning would change gradually over time so that he could see it for what it truly was. Things he saw frequently were less of a problem of identifying clearly straight away, for example, his close family, some of the Rangeman employees, teachers at school. If what Liam was seeing was changing that meant that he'd been seeing it for a while.

"Anything else?" Ranger asked. It was definitely a question, rather than the orders and demands he'd been sprouting all evening to his men.

"Just that the woman involved creeps him out. And she smokes."

"Phone number?" Lester prompted.

"Withheld."

"Chuck it here."

* * *

><p><em>Thoughts? Queries? Suggestions? I'll read 'em all. Send in your reviews<em>


	7. In Other News

_This chapter has been sitting in numerous fragments across three notebooks, my iPad and my computer for the past two or three weeks. It took me ten minutes to find all the fragments and piece them together in the right order. The reason I haven't done so before now is I've been swamped with assignments. In the past four weeks I've written upwards of 20 000 words plus a case study presentation and several practical assessments. The good news is, I'm one musicianship ensemble exam away from finishing my degree. Beta-ing for shaefy has given me the urge to get back into my own writing again, which is why I took the effort to find the bits and pieces of this chapter. Anyway... enough of my psychobabble for the moment. Read._

**Chapter 6**

With eyes glazed over from a combination of lack of sleep and the lecture on the difference between primary and secondary sources in history last period, Cooper shuffled, zombie-like, into the English room, handed the teacher the note his mother had written this morning explaining why it was important for him to keep his cell and pager on him at all times, and waded through the sea of desks to sit next to an equally bleary eyed Astrid.

"Hear anything?" she asked, only just managing to fight off a yawn.

Cooper shook his head, no. "I called Mama between periods. She said they were still gathering intel. That's it. All the information she'd give me."

Huffing out a breath, Astrid leaned more heavily on the pile of books in the desk in front of her. "You'd think they'd be quicker at this kind of thing," she said, laying her head down on her arms so she could still see Cooper. "I mean, isn't this the kind of thing they do _every day_? Isn't this their _job_?"

A curt nod was all Cooper could manage as he too took up a resting position on the desk.

"So what's their problem?" Astrid continued, apparently having enough energy to continue her rant.

"They're being careful," Cooper suggested, closing his eyes. "And thorough. They don't want to mis-... um... they don't want to... what's the word I want?"

Astrid sighed and pushed herself up again. "They don't want to misinterpret information and barge into the wrong room? They don't want to jump to conclusions and bust through the door with guns ablaze only to find out that a simple conversation would have sufficed in getting Liam back? I don't know, Coop, it doesn't seem very like your Dad to work like that. Surely they've worked out where Liam is by now?"

In reply, Cooper shrugged and turned his head so that his face was smashed into the desk. It made him feel slightly better. Inflicting discomfort almost to the point of pain was good. It was probably nothing to the extent of what Liam was going through right now, if not physically then mentally at least, but it helped to ease his guilt... slightly. _Probably a good thing I'm not suicidal_, he thought idly, _or I might have offed myself years ago._

At the front of the room, the teacher had begun the lesson, performing dramatically to the "rapturous" audience of twenty-six sixteen year olds. Cooper, still with his face pressed to the desk, listened vaguely to the rise and fall of her voice and the cadences of her speech, but no words made it through. After a while, the sounds of paper and pens being pulled from bags and torn from books erupted along with the sound of his peers energetically – almost disruptively – chatting to neighbours or, in some instances, across the room. With a sigh, Cooper dragged his head up from the desk and accepted the pen and paper Astrid offered him when he simply stared glumly down at his backpack. Now that he had the tools he could at least make it look like he _might_ be working.

"What are we supposed to be doing?" Cooper asked, thinking he should probably know what kind of written work he was supposed to be doing. No use writing a paragraph when they were supposed to be filling in a venn diagram.

Astrid rolled her eyes and pointed to the page she had handed him.

"Yeah, sure," he muttered. "But what's the task?"

She reached across the space between them and dragged the paper closer to him, tapped it and then turned back to her own page, her hair falling in a curtain to obscure her work from his view.

Getting more frustrated by the moment, Cooper tucked her hair back behind her ear and leaned in close. "Would you clue me in on the task?" he asked quietly. "Please?"

Astrid placed her pen down with a crisp, almost violent movement and turned in her seat to face Cooper, her eyebrows raised her mouth set in a grim, off-centre line. "Do me a favour," she said softly, but with the same amount of crispness she'd shown physically. "I know you're tired, and I know you're worried about Liam. And that's probably why you're acting a little more dense than usual. But _pretty please_, would you _look_ at the _page?"_ The last was said through gritted teeth as she jabbed emphatically at the paper on Cooper's desk.

Finally, he directed his startled gaze to the paper he'd been ignoring to find a paragraph already written there. _How had he missed that?_ He hunched over his desk, pen poised in his hand like he was deep in thought, and began to read. Beside him, Astrid let out a short, relieved breath and returned to her own paper, though Cooper was pretty sure she wasn't actually working.

!

"It's no use," Lester sighed, placing his coffee mug on the table and finally tearing his gaze away from the screen. "Without any more to go on, the best I can do is print out a list of hotels and motels in the Trenton area."

Steph shook her head. "Wasn't there _some_ kind of useful information? Anything at all to go on?"

Lester shook his head, feeling worse that he had to disappoint her. It was one thing to cop a ribbing from the boss for failing, but an entirely different kettle of fish to inform Steph that he was at a loss of how to move forward, especially since the goal was finding her youngest son. The fear roiling in the pit of his stomach was not so much that they would fail – which was his usual reason for fear – but of what it would do to Steph if they did fail. Not only her, but Cooper as well. The poor kid already blamed himself for so much that was beyond his control, it didn't seem fair to add this to his conscience, no matter how unjustified it was.

"We're still waiting on the guys in lab for results on Astrid's phone," he informed her apologetically.

"We'll find him, Steph," Bobby said confidently from three feet away where he sat at his own computer screen. "If it's the last thing we do, we'll find him."

"Don't talk like that," Steph said, her voice thick with emotion. "You guys are supposed to be the It Men. When trouble strikes, you're already two steps ahead of it. Seeing you like this is tripping me out."

That stung. It was like her confidence in us was slowly slipping away. A justified occurrence perhaps, given the situation, but it still hurt. Lester took a deep breath, turned back to his computer and brought up the security footage of the tech lab from last night. There had to be something else Liam had told Astrid that they'd missed, it was just so hard to decipher what was fact and what was fiction when it came to Liam. He would come out with the most outrageous stories about his day, have all the men on the edge of their seats wanting to know what happened next, then when he was done Cooper would serenely inform them that they went to the park and played on the monkey bars.

"What are you doing?" Steph asked, leaning over his shoulder to stare at the screen. "I thought you were taken off all other duties until found Liam."

And they had been. Only the barest minimum was left on regular duties, everyone else having been put on the case of finding Liam. At the extremely early morning meeting (commencing at two am) Ranger had given out the information they had - that Liam had been kidnapped, was being held in a hotel or motel somewhere in the Trenton area by a bunch of guys and a woman, all of them strangers to Liam - and set them to the task of finding him. It was now ten o'clock and they hadn't had so much as a hint of where he might be.

"I'm seeing if there's anything we missed," Lester informed her. "Maybe Liam mentioned something to Astrid that we didn't consider as important."

!

Cooper had barely begun reading Astrid's paragraph when the teacher came around and handed each student a copy of today's newspaper. The paper came with a new set of instructions and another flurry of activity from the students, not that Cooper was listening. He did wonder why it seemed that everyone was on task today though; it was usually such a rare occurrence that they should all actually do their work.

_This is a load of bull. We should be out there looking for Liam, not in here learning about how newspapers use emotive language to pull their readers in. I say we skip out during lunch period. Meet me at the bike racks and we'll go from there. We'll find a phone booth, get a list of hotels and motels around Trenton and figure out the best way to search. We –_

"Coop," Astrid whispered urgently, tugging on the sleeve of his jacket. She leaned over, shoving her news paper onto his desk and effectively forcing him to look at what had her so excited. It was an advertisement for a biker show at the local show grounds. Today. "This is it!" she told him.

Confused, Cooper read quickly through the article. There was nothing here that was any use to them. It was just about a bunch of men that dressed in leather and rode bikes.

"This is what?" he asked dully.

"Our big break," Astrid said exasperatedly. "Remember what Liam said was outside the place he was in?" Cooper stared blankly at her for a moment, causing another, more frustrated expulsion of breath. "Coop, seriously, this is your own brother we're talking about."

Cooper gave her a look. "Yeah," he said, a shade short of icy. "He's my brother. Fat lot of good that does when he calls my girlfriend instead."

This time Astrid's sigh was a little less violent. "It's not your fault, Cooper. You know he idolizes you. I'm sure he had a reason for calling me and not you, but for now, just try to remember what I mentioned he noticed a lot of in the parking lot of the place he is currently staying in."

The adrenaline started pumping through Astrid's system as she saw the dawning expression lit up Cooper's face. They were onto something. This was most definitely _it_. They were getting close to finding him.

"We're not waiting until lunch period," Cooper said hastily. "As soon as this class is over, we're skipping out. We'll go straight to the show grounds; see if we can get someone to tell us where they're staying."

"How are you going to convince them to tell you where they're staying?" she countered. "Wouldn't they think that a bit creepy?"

Shaking his head, Cooper began to tear the article from the paper, conscious of the fact that he was probably supposed to hand the paper back in one piece so that the teacher could use it for her next class. "We'll explain about Liam," he suggested. "They'll understand."

"They're bikers, Coop."

"My uncles are ex-mill, Astrid."

"Point taken."

* * *

><p><em>Well? Are you as excited as I am that I've posted another chapter? Let me know in a review along with any other comments you may have. <em>

_Also, *cue shameless plug* I've started a Project 365. A photograph a day for a year. Check out my photos thus far at becleigh . deviantart . com_


	8. Deals

_Yes, it's me again. You're friendly neighbourhood Svendances, bringing to you the latest chapter of King in His Own Lunch Box. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy devising it's plot. And speaking of devising plot! I've been working on a new story: That Froghurt Guy. You may have noticed the first chapter is already up. I strongly urge you to go take a read and let me know what you think. I've already written chapters 2 and 3 and know almost exactly where the story is heading (and it's not where it might seem like it's heading in the first chapter). Make sure you check it out, and leave me a review. I won't be posting any more on it until I'm absolutely sure that people are interested in it._

**Chapter 7**

"Come on, kid," Justin implored across the small coffee table they were seated at. "You've gotta eat something. You need your strength." He'd been sitting cross legged on the floor with Liam and a plate of pancakes for the last hour. The pancakes were now a cold and soggy mess on the plate and Liam was getting more and more upset by the minute. "What will make you eat?"

"Don't go making any more deals with the kid, Justin," one of the other men, Kane, sneered from the armchair nearby. "You know what he wants. He wants his mommy. And he'll have his mommy soon as the time is right."

Justin shook his head and leaned his elbows on the coffee table. "I still don't think we should go through with it," he said to no one in particular. "It doesn't seem right."

"It doesn't matter if it doesn't seem right," Viv told him from the little kitchenette. "It has to be done. You know it has to happen. We made an oath."

"He knew what he'd been agreeing to, but now that it was starting to become a reality, he wasn't sure he agreed with the decisions anymore. This kid clearly had some kind of impairment. He was so innocent. To take away his life with a loving family just so that Justin's own hateful sister could pretend like everything was okay in her life, seemed like a massive mistake. Liam was not the son Katie wanted. He was just unfortunate enough to look enough like the one she'd lost that she had devised the 'perfect' solution.

Viv brought candles over to the end small, circular dining table and set them around the outer edge, measuring the distance between each precisely so that the spaces were even. Once they were all in place she stepped back to contemplate the set up. "You really think a table top ritual is gonna work, Kane?" she asked, glancing over at him. "It's not very big."

"We can check the dimensions right now," Kane suggested, hauling himself up and ambling over to where Justin and Liam still sat.

Liam was eyeing the pair warily, but with obvious confusion in his gaze. He'd stopped crying and was listening intently to the short conversation happening around him, trying to understand why they wouldn't take him home. Justin's heart clenched as the small boy trembled in fear and shuffled away from Kane as he came to stand directly beside him. _What would I want for my child?_ he thought. _How would I feel if someone did this to my son?_

That was it. He had to put an end to it.

Sending Liam a small encouraging smile, he held out kneeled up and offered his hand. "Wanna play a game?" he asked him.

Liam slowly and hesitantly moved his wide-eyed gaze from Kane to Justin, still fearful, but less apprehensive as he took the man's hand and stood. "What kind of game?" he asked in a very small voice.

"Have you ever played 'The Floor is Made of Lava'?" Justin asked, leading Liam away from Viv and Kane and into the middle of the room. Liam nodded his head, yes. "Hmm, let's think of something new to play, then. How about, 'How many surfaces can I fit on'? Have you played that before?"

Liam drew his brows together in thought before shaking his head, looking up at Just in awe. "How do we play?" he asked.

"Well, we lie on top of things and see if we fit. Whoever fits on the most surfaces wins."

A big grin crawled across Liam's face. "Can I lie on the bench?" he asked eagerly.

"You sure can," Justin said. "Why don't you go check out some surfaces you want to try, I'll be there in a minute." As Liam hurried over to the bedroom to check out what he could lie on in there, Justin turned to the other two, who were eyeing him suspiciously. "This way he's not freaked out about why he's being put on the table," he explained. "The poor kid's been through enough. He's freaking out. The least we can do is make sure he's at least okay. If we let him get any more stressed he would have made himself sick."

!

"You really think they're gonna help us?" Astrid asked as she and Cooper got off the bus at the show grounds. "I mean, who's going to believe a couple of kids?"

Cooper shook his head and lead the way to the entrance, glancing over his shoulder to make sure she followed. "Of course they will," he told her. "I know how to explain things in order to make tough men feel compassionate. I've been doing it my entire life."

_Sure_, she thought, _but that was on tough men you _knew_ and whom knew you._ Astrid was not at all convinced that Cooper could persuade these men to help them. They may be willing to divulge the place they're staying at, but the likelihood of a group of complete strangers offering to help find a boy who'd supposedly been kidnapped was a little slim in her eyes. She always thought that Cooper had a skewed vision of the world. He didn't feel he was worthy of good things like the love of brother. He claimed he wasn't good at anything physical, though he held the district title for track. He saw himself as weak despite having the strength to carry on through some of the most difficult ordeals. And, most relevant to right now, he thought all tough guys had soft hearts. Clearly, he hadn't watched enough crime shows.

Astrid hurried to catch up as Cooper spoke to the ticket seller. "What's your plan here, Coop," she asked once they'd gotten their tickets.

"Back me on whatever I say," he said simply, like it was obvious. "You'll be like my wing man."

Astrid rolled her eyes. "You remember I'm a terrible liar, right? And also, I'm a woman."

"Teenage girl," he corrected, grinning evilly.

"That technicality is going to cost you," Astrid informed him as they entered the show grounds proper. She stared around at the booths and displays, wondering how on earth they were going to work this. "Coop? Some directional assistance?" she requested, taking his hand.

Cooper nodded toward the row of bikes to their right and pulled her toward them. "We'll start over here and keep going until we find someone useful," he explained before calling out to the man guarding the bikes. His jeans were well worn as was his leather jacket. He was bald, but with the tattoo of an eagle reaching around the back of his head. "Excuse me," Cooper called as they approached. "I was wondering if you could help us out."

"I recommend you be at least twenty-one before you join a biker gang," the guy said, sounding serious. Just as Coop was slowing his pace, taken aback, the guy split into a big grin. "It's no fun if you can't drink."

Cooper joined the guy in his laughter, but Astrid could only manage a nervous titter. "We're looking for my brother," he informed him. "It's vital that we know what hotel most of the biker guys are staying at."

The grin seemed to drop from the guy's face as he crossed what looked to be muscled arms over his beefy chest. "Why would you need to know that to find your brother?" he asked suspiciously.

"He's been kidnapped," Cooper explained.

"And you think one of my guys did it?" the biker guy asked incredulously. "Are you asking for trouble?"

Astrid rolled her eyes. Cooper may have a gift for talking tough guys into doing what he wanted them to do, but his skill was clearly subpar today. Stepping forward, she ignored Cooper's instruction to play the wingman, and took over. She addressed the biker as she would a teacher at school; respectfully.

"Sir, allow me to explain," she began. "My name is Astrid, and this is Cooper. His brother was kidnapped yesterday evening as he played near his grandparents' house. We have not heard from the kidnappers for any kind of ransom et cetera, however we have made contact with Liam." She pulled her phone from her pocket and flipped through the gallery. "Liam is nine years old, but he has a vision impairment that causes him to see things very differently to how they appear to you and me. On top of that, his imagination is highly developed; something we encourage in him. My point is, he's a very special boy. We need to find him as fast as we can."

"What does that have to do with where my guys are staying?" he asked. His face was still serious and even on the intimidating side (if you weren't used to that sort of thing), but Astrid could tell that he was softening.

_Maybe Cooper was right after all._

"When we spoke to him he mentioned that he was being held at a hotel and that there were a lot of motor bikes in the car park," Cooper explained.

"It wasn't until we were in English class at school, looking through the newspaper and found the ad for this show that we realised that he'd actually given us something to go on," Astrid added.

"So you see," Cooper finished, "We really quite desperately need to know where you're all staying."

The biker guy nodded, a short, crisp movement, then put his hands on either side of his mouth and made a weird bird call type shout. The entire space went silent and all heads turned to see where the sound had come from. "We got a situation to attend to," biker guy called to the crowd. "We need to saddle up and get back to base!"

Astrid couldn't help the small giggle that burbled up inside her. The way he phrased it sound part cowboy and part military, which of course, was at odds with the biker image as well.

A swarm of leather and denim clad men and women raced over to the bikes, pulling on helmets and gunning engines. Biker Guy spoke to a couple of them to quickly explain what was going on, and Cooper and Astrid were swiftly dragged onto the back of a couple of bikes. Helmets were thrust onto their heads and then, they were on their way.

Astrid briefly acknowledged that they should relay some kind of information to Cooper's parents, but there was no way she would be heard down the phone line over the roaring of bike engines, and she was too busy holding on tight to the person in front of her so that she didn't fall off to be able to text anything. She just hoped that they figured it out soon enough.

!

"I can't believe we missed that vital information," Hal commented, not for the first time as they sped down the street toward the show grounds. "I mean, Woody has tomorrow off to go to this show. And Liam mentioned the heap of motorcycles. And we couldn't put two and two together?"

Lester, sitting tensely in the passenger's seat, agreed, "I know. We've really dropped the ball on this one."

"Can it, both of you," Ranger snapped. This was taking a major toll on him, but he refused to either stay behind at Rangeman or relinquish the steering wheel. He expertly guided the speeding vehicle into the parking lot, zooming past a long line of motor cycles heading in the other direction.

"Whoa," Hal uttered softly, staring after them. "Where do you think they're going so fast?"

Lester couldn't believe his eyes. "Uh, boss?" he said. "I'm pretty sure Cooper and Astrid were with those guys."

"What?" Ranger demanded. "How can you know?"

"Astrid's backpack," he stated firmly. "It's pink with black stars drawn on it in sharpie. And Cooper is wearing a red jacket today."

Without another word, Ranger reefed the SUV around to follow the line of bikes, causing Hal and Lester to scramble for a handhold.

* * *

><p><em>Don't forget to leave a review and let me know what you think of the story's progress. AND CHECK OUT 'THAT FROGHURT GUY'!<em>


	9. The Plan

_Sorry it has taken so long to get this chapter out. Between being distracted and having my muse play hide and seek with ideas for it's continuation, it's been pretty impossible for me to write this one. But it's here now. _

**Chapter 8**

Father and son were locked in an intense staring contest, neither willing to back down. Ranger was determined to have Cooper march himself over to the waiting SUV and so that could Hal drive him and Astrid back to Haywood, or perhaps school. But Cooper wasn't having it. He's the one that successfully found where the kidnappers were holding Liam, so it was only logical that he get to stay and help with the take down. Besides, someone had to comfort Liam while the adults were maiming and pillaging. Not that that was the plan, but it certainly seemed like a good idea after all the anxiety they'd been put through.

"Let me stay," Cooper uttered firmly. He might have left it at that, if the image of his mother confronting school yard scum hadn't flashed to the forefront of his brain. "Or I'll call Mama," he threatened.

Ranger's eyes widened ever so slightly for a split second before he got the sudden emotion under control. There was no way he could allow his wife on the scene. First, because she would rip the place to shreds. And second, because if she didn't rip the place to shreds, she'd be a liability. It wasn't safe for her to be here. For anyone.

Unbidden, a scene unfolded in Ranger's mind.

_Not ten minutes after Cooper had hung up the phone Steph's Rangeman issue SUV came screeching into the lot, kicking up a cloud of smoke and smelling of burning rubber. She jumped from the driver's side door almost before it had come to a complete stop and jogged toward Ranger and Cooper. _

_"What room is he in?" she demanded, pulling a gun from the waistband of her jeans. "Where's the scum that took my baby?"_

_Frightened by the sight of his mother acting so ferociously, Cooper had immediately sprouted off the room number and she was gone again, jogging for the hotel. Moments later, a series of shots were fired and Steph came jogging back out of the building, Liam perched on her back as she ran. Rather than stop at her husband and other son, however, she'd continued to the nearest SUV, dived into the back seat and called to her men to follow suit._

_Responding to the urgency in her voice, Ranger and Cooper had both wasted no time, climbing into the SUV. The moment the door was closed Steph screamed at the driver – Lester – to drive. They were just pulling out of the lot when the building exploded in flames._

Blinking away the thoughts, Ranger nodded swiftly. "You follow my orders."

Cooper, emboldened by his success, gave a mock salute and they turned their attentions to devising a plan.

Half an hour later, with half the Rangeman fleet anchored in the hotel parking lot, they crept into place. Black clad men surrounded the patio side of the hotel room, while even more crowded down halls and commandeered the entrance way of many other rooms, assuring the occupants that everything would be alright if they would just sit quietly until all the shouting had died down or someone told them the coast was clear. It helped that some of the rooms belonged to the bikers, who were intermingling with the Rangemen, ready to lend a hand wherever they could. Turns out, bikers are actually really caring and compassionate people.

Pressed firmly against a door frame by the men behind him, Cooper initially cast off the vibrating he was feeling against his leg as nervous energy until Hank leaned down and whispered, "I think that's your phone."

Startled, he quickly pulled the offending piece of technology out of his pocket to find that he had a text message from Astrid. If she was looking for an update, he may just have to ensure that she was aware of how insane she was. Did she honestly think he could text her back at a time like this? I mean, sure, she might feel a little left out, since she'd been ordered to sit in the car with Hal, but seriously, this was ridiculous. He opened the message and read the four words displayed on the screen.

_Got a better plan._

Cooper frowned at the phone for a moment before hurriedly typing a reply. _You've left it a bit late haven't you?_

Her message came mere seconds later. _Meet me at the end of the hall. Make sure the men are out of sight._

!

Astrid had stood blithely by as the men made their little war plans. Allowing them to be dramatic and violent as they pleased, but she couldn't help but think that this was definitely not the way to go about it. Imagine poor, little Liam's reaction to his dad's 'ninjas' bursting into the room, guns pointing every which way but up and maybe even firing a few. More to the point, imagine the kidnapper's reaction when they break down the door demanding the kid back. She couldn't see it ending very well. So while they'd been initiating their covert operation, she'd been devising her own.

Once they were all out of sight, she'd managed to convince Hal to escort her to the lobby to put her own plan into action. It hadn't taken much to persuade Hal, he was easily bribable. Twenty bucks. That's it. If Ranger ever found out he'd be furious.

After explaining the situation, Astrid had quickly borrowed the receptionist's computer and printer while the receptionist went to locate a clipboard she could use. Then she was hurrying to the hall where Liam's kidnapper's room was located to meet Cooper.

"How on earth do you expect this plan to work?" Cooper asked incredulously when she was finished explaining. "You think trying to get them to donate money to our school for new computers is going to somehow get us into the room so that we can smuggle Liam out? Because if you do, I'm gonna have to refer you to the school psychologist. That's _insane_."

"No," Astrid said patiently. "Coop, we have no way of knowing how many people are in there. This way we can get an approximate head count."

There was no way Cooper could fault that logic. It was a sound theory.

"It's not going to work," Coop told her adamantly. "How many people do you know that just give money to kids who knock on their door sprouting baloney about money for new school computers?"

Okay, so maybe he could fault her logic. It was still a worthwhile idea. And somehow, she managed to convince him of that before the ten minutes Ranger had allotted for their attempt were up. She dragged him down the hall, pausing briefly at each door to knock, explain their cause and ask for donations. Finally, after being denied money for their fake cause six times, they reached the door they were after. Just as Astrid was rapping on the door, Cooper's phone buzzed with a text message.

He turned away to read it while they waited for the occupants of the room to answer the door. _Act uninterested. Play uncaring to her enthusiastic, it'll legitimise it._ Cooper rolled his eyes at Lester's advice. Like he wasn't already acting uninterested in this charade.

"Are we done yet?" Cooper asked in a bored tone, just as the door opened. "I have places to be."

"What do you want?" the man demanded in a hiss. "We're busy."

"Hi!" Astrid enthused, just like she had at the previous six doors. "We're from the local high school raising money for a new computer lab. We were wondering if you would be willing to donate five dollars."

The man was craning his neck to gaze back into the room, seeming distracted. In fact, it appeared he hadn't even heard her. The sound of stereo voices chanting in some foreign language drifted out toward them.

"I'm sorry," Astrid said, "Is this a bad time?"

"What's going on in there?" Cooper asked, stepping forward to try to peer inside. "Some kind of satanic ritual?" Although he sounded nonchalant about it, he was secretly thinking _please don't be a satanic ritual!_ The thought of his baby brother being sacrificed for the needs of evil made his stomach turn.

"We're praying for a small boy," the man informed him tersely. "He is on his way to heaven."

Astrid was so taken aback that she had to physically step backwards. All she could do was picture Liam lying in a hotel bed, slowly dying.

Cooper, who had somehow managed to squash the sick feeling that threatened to surge up and explode from his mouth, leaned in even more. "There's a sick kid in there? Astrid go get your dad." He turned his head so that only Astrid could see his pointed look, before returning his gaze to the man. "Her dad's a medic," he informed him, well, Bobby was..., "He should be able to help. What's wrong with the kid?" With alarming ease, Cooper pushed past the man and into the hotel room proper. As soon as he was in, though, the door slammed shut and the man grabbed his upper arm.

"You think I didn't recognise you and your girlfriend?" he seethed in Cooper's ear. "We've been watching your brother for weeks. You really think we wouldn't have seen the two of you with him?" Roughly, he pushed Cooper into the living area of the hotel room and dumped him into an armchair, where he had a clear view of the dining table... and the small boy tied to it.

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><p><em>Dun DUN DUUUUUNNNNNN!<em> _What on earth is going on! Don't forget to review!_


	10. Spirit of a Child

_Yay! Another chapter! Finally! Yes, I know it's been a while. I've been trying to write this chapter for a while. It had several false starts. And then there was the distraction of discovering a brilliant story idea ("The Secret Life Of" If you haven't already done so, you should go check it out!). But that's all in the past. We're here now. Enjoy._

**Chapter 9**

I don't know how long I'd been lying on the table for. I thought I only had to stay up there for thirty seconds to prove that I really did fit. That was the rule Justin and I had agreed to before we started. But once I got up on the table the serpents had started lighting the candles all around me and then the dragon lady – Viv put a plate with a candle on it on top of my stomach and lit it. I was so scared. I'd never been surrounded by so much fire. Mama and Dad and Cooper always made sure that I didn't get too close in case I burned myself. Flames can be really pretty and sometimes I forget that they can hurt. I was afraid to move. It was everywhere. Even on top of me.

Once they had the candles lit, they all gathered around me, holding hands and chanting, their hissing voices filling my ears. I tried to ask Justin what they were doing, but I couldn't see him. I couldn't hear him. The mild smoke from the candles was stinging my eyes, making me cry. My nose was filled with a disgusting odour. Slowly, I felt myself getting tired. I hadn't slept well without Mama and Dad nearby and it was making me sleepy now, along with the constant ebb and flow of the serpents' voices. They were almost song like. I felt like they were singing me a lullaby. As much as I fought it, I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer. I let them drift closed, telling myself that I would just let them rest a moment and then I would open them again.

I was caressed by the twinkling lights of my dream land. I could do whatever I wanted in dream land. I could be a dinosaur if I wanted – and I wanted often. Dream land was the only place in the entire universe where everything was exactly as I saw it. I controlled the world. If there was a demonic lizard in the tree above me, it was really a demonic lizard. I know that I don't always see things right in the real world, but I try hard - my reading is improving; the words don't look Egyptian anymore. Still, in dreamland, everything is as it seems and I am God. I chose every detail.

Except now.

This was not my regular dream land. There was no land. No buildings. No trees. It was just dark and twinkly. And I was alone. I called out to all my dream land friends, but my voice didn't work. I was just floating in space. Nothing to do. Nowhere to go. It was like the time Mama had left me with her friend at Unlce Vinnie's work. There was nothing to then either.

I was just getting used to the idea of this new dream land when suddenly I wasn't alone any more. Or maybe I was still alone. It's hard to figure out when there's two of you. I was pretty sure he was me. We looked alike. Except the nose. His was wider. I felt pulled toward him and let myself float across the distance. It was like when Cooper dragged me around on the pool noodle when we went swimming. After a moment, or an eternity, it's hard to tell, I was in front of him... me? Other me? I was getting confused.

"You have to resist," he told me, reaching out a hand toward me. I wanted to ask what I had to resist. I wanted to ask who he was. I wanted to ask where we were. Where he came from. But I couldn't ask any of those questions. For a moment it was because my voice still wouldn't work, and then I was abruptly dumped back into reality.

The table was hard under me and the candle on my stomach was heavy and being held by one of the serpents so that it didn't fall. I tried to sit up but my arms and legs were being held as well. They were still chanting, all lilting and soothing, but they were no longer holding hands.

"Liam?"

I thought I heard Cooper's voice over the chanting. Maybe I wasn't awake after all. Maybe this was just a different part of dream land. Dream land had some scary parts that I couldn't control, maybe this was all part of it. Maybe there weren't really any serpents in a castle chanting. Maybe I fell asleep in the field near Grandma's house while Cooper and Astrid were sucking face. Maybe they were going to wake me up any moment and we would go back to the house to have dinner and then go home. I'd wake up tomorrow and go to school with all my friends. I squinched my eyes shut, hoping against hope that none of this was real.

"Liam?" Cooper's voice came again. "Come on buddy, open your eyes. Fight it off. Don't let them do this. You can't let them take you." _Take me?_ What was he talking about? They already had me. "Liam you have to stay awake," Cooper urged. I wanted to follow his instructions, but my eyes weren't listening to me. They were heavy. I couldn't lift them.

And then I was back in the twinkly nothingness.

I didn't have to wait as long this time for Other Me to turn up.

"You shouldn't be here," he told me. "You need to go back. Go to your brother. He's calling you. He needs you."

"Where am I?" I finally managed to ask.

"You're in the spirit world," he said. "This is where spirits go when they have been released from their bodies."

"Wh-what do you mean?"

"When you die as a human, your spirit is released and comes here. Here you can do whatever you want. You can make whatever you want of the place. You can play with the others, or you can create your own secret world."

I was getting scared again. Was he telling me I was dead? I didn't want to be dead. I didn't want to die yet. There were things I had to do. I had to hug Mama and Dad again. Tell them I loved them. And Cooper. And Grandma and Grandpa. And the Old Griffoness. I had to let Cooper know how to unlock the stash in the tower. Make sure he would look after Quin for me. I didn't want to go yet.

"You're not dead," Other Me said as I drifted closer. "You shouldn't be here."

"I don't know how I got here," I told him. "I don't know how to go back. I want to go home."

"And you can," he assured me as we became even closer. "You have to resist. You have to stay away from me." He darted backwards as my hand reached up toward him. I stared between my hand and Other Me, trying to lower my hand as I once again drifted toward him. I had no control. I couldn't do anything to stop myself. "You need to stay back," he implored. "This can't happen. It's not right. Please."

"I can't," I cried, more scared than ever. "Tell me how to stop it."

"Imagine yourself holding fast to your body. Don't let go for anything. Hold on tight. Hug your body. Stay with your body."

I tried to picture myself holding onto my body, hugging myself. I saw myself gripping my own hands like when Cooper took me on the rollercoaster. It must have been right, because I started drifting away from Other Me. I concentrated on lowering my hand and watched it go down.

"That's it," Other Me encouraged. "You're doing it. Well, done! Keep holding on. Hold tighter. Go back to your body."

"Why did this happen to me?" I asked desperately, floating further and further away all the time. I paused in my drifting, needing to know what all this was.

"My mother didn't want me to go," he said sadly. "Mothers never want us to go. It broke her heart. She's trying to bring me back."

I didn't understand. How could his mother bring him back? He must be dead. Otherwise why would he be here?

"She wants to switch our souls," he explained. "You take my place here in the spirit world, and I take your place in your body."

I shook my head. That was impossible. Things like that only happen in movies. Dad said so. Other Me had to be lying. Against my will, I found myself drifting back toward him.

"No!" He darted back a foot or so. "Remember your family. They love you. They need you. Focus on getting back to them. Hold tight to your body. And tell my mother that I love her. Tell her Michael loves her." He was crying now. It made me sad. "Go back to your family," he urged. "Don't be afraid. Everything will be alright."

I kept drifting back away from him, but never once took my eyes off Other Me's face. Suddenly we weren't just drifting backwards. We were circling each other. Spinning around and around. Coming closer and closer and closer. And then further away. We stared at each other right up until the last second. Right up until it all disappeard.

!

Cooper held his breath when Liam gave another jerk, almost launching the candle off his stomach. Everyone scrambled to catch themselves as they too seemed to be jerked out of some sort of trance. They stopped chanting. Everything was still. They were waiting to see if they had succeeded. Cooper was hoping against hope that they hadn't. He'd never been all that big on church, couldn't really see the point of it, but in those silent moments he sent up his first fully heart-felt prayer.

He'd been in the room for a little over ten minutes now with no sign of his father or any of the men. He couldn't think of what could be taking so long. Every minute that past, the peoples' chanting had gotten more insistent and Cooper's praying got more fervent. He couldn't allow them to do what they said they were doing. If their chanting could supposedly swap Liam's soul with some dead look-alike kid's, then surely Cooper's prayers could stop them. It wasn't much, but it was all he could do.

Slowly, the woman seated at Liam's feet rose and moved around the others to stand beside his head, blocking Cooper's view. She leaned down and in the absolute silence Cooper heard her whisper, "Michael?"

Cooper bit his bottom lip, waiting. He couldn't see what was going on. He wanted to call to his brother, but didn't want to risk being punched again. His face still hurt from the last time.

He was starting to send mental - and rather futile - messages in his father's direction, urging him to hurry up, when Liam's sweet voice penetrated the air.

"Michael loves you," he whispered and Cooper breathed a sigh of relief. That had to be Liam. What kid would talk about themselves in third person? "He wants you to be happy and live your life. He's happy where he is. He can be whatever he wants to be. He's free."

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><p><em>Please don't forget to review.<em>


	11. Decisions Decisions

_It took me ages to decid on how to approach this chapter, so I apologise for the wait. But it's here now, and we're getting close to wrapping things up._

**Chapter 10**

All his life, Ranger had been faced with difficult decisions. Decisions that affected no only his own life, but those of the people around him; his friends, family and loved ones. His decision to join the military had broken his abuela's heart despite knowing it was the ebest thing for him at the time. When he decided to marry Rachel, it provided her and their child with a financial security they otherwise might have struggled to achieve. When he set up his company it provided dignified jobs for ex-military men as well as a kind of refuge for men who had worked the mean streets and wanted to get back on the clean side of the system again. The moment he'd agreed to mentor a tenacious, curly haired white-girl from the 'burg, he'd signed over his heart to her. And when he decided to make her his wife, he drew her even deeper into the mess of his life. But they were happy.

Two years later, with the arrival of their first son, his life changed again. He'd always protected Steph as best he could, taking comfort in the fact that if things got too bad, she had the basic instinct and ability to get herself out of the line of fire. The same could not be said for his infant son. Baby Cooper would be completely dependent on their ability to protect him. And so the difficult decisions kept rolling in. Cloth or disposable diapers? Breast feed or formula? Trust that he would be safe spending the night at his grandparents' house while he and Steph worked a distraction? Who would take care of him if something happened to them?

As he grew the decisions changed from covering his basic care and needs to providing him the best opportunities. Enrol him in day care, keep him home, or have someone babysit him during the day? Teach him Spanish from an early age, or let him grasp one language first? Public of private schooling?

All this time they had been desperate to have another child, someone for Cooper to share his childhood with, but it appeared that it wasn't meant to be. They stop trying, and focused all their attention on the child they had. Ensuring he had the best opportunities and experiences they could provide.

Right around the time Cooper was really finding his place in the world, learning to stand on his own two feet, a miracle happened and they had to return to square one, playing two hands at once. Nappies, formula, babysitting, homework, language, schools. It all intermingled.

And then the accident. How could one day change their lives so drastically?

The happy-go-lucky, normal two-year-old would have more challenges to overcome than Ranger could ever imagine. And the guilt that weighed on his older brother, though unjustified, would be a constant struggle. Ranger's urge to protect meant that he would do anything to ensure their safe passage through life, even if it meant living in a world of Liam's own creation.

He realised that he sometimes got so caught up in tending to Liam's needs that he seemed to neglect those of his older son, but hoped that Cooper was old enough to understand that Liam didn't have the same ability to just muddle though life as he did. The brain injury that caused Liam's vision impairment coupled with the wild imagination he'd inherited from his mother meant that often, what he thought he saw was, in fact, something else entirely. The mundane became exciting. The harmless could be terrifying. And most concerning, the dangerous could seem perfectly normal to him. There was no way of knowing exactly how Liam's mind would interpret things. Ranger was just grateful that Cooper seemed just as determined to protect the boy as he was. Together they could be there for him more than if it were just one of them.

At this very moment, though, Ranger was worried that Cooper's protectiveness of his brother could have made the situation that much dicier. Now, instead of retrieving one boy from the motel room they were being held in, he had to somehow get both of them out without anyone getting hurt. He could only imagine what would happen if he brought the boys home to Steph with any kind of injury. Even a scratch.

He gave the signal to his men and they filed out silently, moving to surround the area and clog the corridors. Once they were gone, he gave Bobby a brief nod and together, they made their way to the room in question.

!

Cooper had just managed to convince their captors to allow him to comfort Liam when his cell phone rang in his pocket. Having his arms bound behind him on the chair, there was no way he could even attempt to answer it. Thankfully, though, they had let Liam roam free, unbound.

Ever helpful, the kid fished the phone out and announced, "It's Mama!"

Their kidnappers, who were gather around the now empty table, deep in discussion, all looked up at Liam's excited exclamation. They'd been getting loud and frustrated some even bordering on anger. Clearly they were not happy with the way things had turned out, especially the woman. She was the worst of the lot of them, seeming utterly distraught that their dastardly plan had been foiled by a kid. Now, they all stared at Cooper, as if expecting and explanation.

"She'll get worried if I don't answer," Cooper told them, trying not to sound like he was pleading with them. God knows there's nothing worse than pleading with your captors. "She doesn't know I'm not at school."

The woman glared at him suspiciously, causing Liam to scrunch closer to his side, the ringing phone still in his hand. "Why would you be answering your phone at school?" she countered.

Cooper gave her a weird look, but replied honestly, "I had special permission today because of Liam's kidnapping. If I don't answer she'll figure out a way to come riding to the rescue, and in case you didn't know, my mother is the Bombshell Bounty Hunter. We're probably all better off if she doesn't get involved."

They exchanged a look, and the nominated speaker nodded and instructed him, "Put it on loud speaker."

Liam dutifully pressed the button to answer the call, ensuring that the speaker volum was up so the conversation filled the room.

"Hi, Mama," Cooper greeted innocently.

"Cooper Manaoso, where are you?" came the obviously outraged voice of his mother. "The school just called to tell me you didn't show up for your fourth period class and then Astrid's parents called to say that she didn't either and wanted to know why I was allowing their daughter to skip school."

"We're fine," he assured her, which was basically true, if you discounted the fact that they were being held in a crumby hotel room with half a dozen obviously deranged persons who had minutes ago attempted to switch his brother's sould for that of a dead boy who apparently looked just like him. "Liam's okay too. Aren't you, Liam?" If there was one way to get his mother off his case, it was distraction. He'd learned his skills from the best, Mama herself, and was not above using them against her.

His brother grinned and waved at the phone he held. "Hi, Mama!" he greeted.

"You found him?" she exclaimed in a wash of relief. "You found my baby? Oh Cooper! I love you both so much! You're getting a raise in your allowance. How long until you get home?"

Cooper swallowed hard. _Why did she always ask the hard questions?_ "I can't really be sure at this point," he admitted, knowing that anything less than the truth was unacceptable.

"Where's your father, then?" she questioned. "Put him on."

"He's not here right now," Cooper answered honestly once more, and he could feel his mother's anger and worry simmering just below the surface. Neither had a chance to say anything else on the topic, though, as at that moment a loud crash sounded from the entry way followed by shouts and a flurry of activity.

"What was that?" Stephanie demanded loudly, trying to be heard over the din. "What's going on? What's happening?"

Trying to suppress a grin as his black clad, gun-toting father stepped into view, followed by his employees – who quickly went to work clearing and securing the room, and apprehending the bad guys – Cooper replied, "Dad just got here."

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><p><em>Don't for get to review.<em>


	12. Sometimes the Earth Moves

_Forgive the shortness, but it says everything it needs to. One chapter left._

**Chapter 11**

As Cooper explained to Mama that we weren't with Dad and tried to calm her down, the castle began to shake and tremble. I moved closer to Coop to make sure that if anything happened we'd stay together, I didn't want to be taken away again. There was an explosion nearby, blowing up the entire entryway, flinging vases and picture frames into the kitchen area. As the dust settled the chamber was filled with angry shouts and then suddenly Dad was there with his ninjas. They hurried through the room, rounding up the serpents and the dragon lady and putting them in their special cages. I watched as they clicked the initialiser onto their wrists and tails and admired the pretty blue glow that came over them. It only took a minute for them to catch them all and we were safe once more.

I was vaguely aware of Mama shouting through Coop's communicator, still in my hand, but I wasn't listening to her. Dad was standing on the other side of the room, breathing heavy, staring at me. It was like he was using his eye lasers to pull me to him, because one moment I was right next to Cooper and the next Dad was scooping me up.

"Liam," he breathed into my hair, hugging me tightly. "You had us scared to death."

"Sorry, Dad," I told him solemnly.

He shook his head against my shoulder. "No, don't be sorry. You're okay. That's all that matters."

"I tried to remember your rules," I told him, trying to show him that I did listen to what he taught me. "But I couldn't think of all of them."

"Hello?" Mama's voice emanated from the communicator in my hand again and Dad and I both cringed. She didn't sound happy. "Is someone going to tell me what on earth is going on or do I have to come down there myself?" My eyes widened at that threat. It was like when Cooper and I were playing behind the tower in Grandpa's back yard, she would call out, "Are you going to come inside and have dinner or do I have to come down there and drag you out myself." Everyone knows that it's not a question. It's a threat. And if she had to come out and drag us back in we were in deep trouble. I handed Dad the communicator and wriggled until he let me down.

Cooper was talking to Uncle Bobby, so I made my way over to them. Dad always insisted that I talk to Uncle Bobby after something big happened, so I thought I should go do that now. As I approached, I heard Coop telling him about how the serpents had been chanting and hissing and all the candles, but as soon as he caught sight of me, he grabbed my hand and lifted me up to stand on the coffee table. It made me a little bit nervous because of the last time I'd been on a table top, but I knew that Coop and Uncle Bobby would never let anything bad happen to me, so I tried to relax.

Uncle Bobby ruffled my hair and I dutifully submitted to his examination, telling him that I wasn't hurt because Justin had looked after me. He nodded and admitted that I looked okay, but I knew he'd be talking to me again tomorrow asking how I felt, how I slept, how I was eating. Uncle Bobby was like a doctor, he tended to all my cuts and scrapes and made sure I was alright. Sometimes he would just sit with me at his desk and colour in while we talked, but other times he would take me down to his Doctor Office and use his thingamajigs on me. I like it better when Uncle Bobby uses his thingamajigs than when the nasty doctor man at the hospital uses his thingamajigs. Uncle Bobby always explains what he's doing and tells me funny stories while he's using them.

Dad came over as Uncle Bobby was finishing up and hefted me up onto his shoulders telling me and Cooper that it was time to get back to Mama and prove that we were all right.

!

Cooper walked beside his father and brother out to one of the many SUVs where Hal and Astrid were waiting for them. Astrid jumped out of the vehicle the moment she caught sight of them and raced to him, wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face in his shoulder. "I was so worried," she exclaimed. "I thought they were going to do horrible things to the both of you!"

"We're fine," Cooper assured her. "Everyone's a-okay."

"You did well, Coop," his Dad informed him as he finished ensuring Liam's seatbelt was properly strapped. "I'm proud of you."

Coop had to blink at that. He wasn't sure if he'd really heard it. Sure, he knew abstractly that his father was proud of him in general, but I couldn't quite remember the last time he'd been told specifically by his father. He was used to others telling him that his Dad was proud of him, usually Mama would do a blanket _"We're so proud of you!_" when he did something of note. His heart swelled at his father's words now.

"I should really give you more credit, huh?" Dad asked, closing the back door on their side once Astrid was inside. This was the most human conversation they'd had in a while. Coop was used to unnecessary conversations about how school was, or being flat out informed that he should or shouldn't do this, that or the other. It was like they were either talking about his business, Liam or not at all."Yeah," Dad said, reading the expression on Cooper's face. "I've been a bit distant. And I'm sorry. Sometimes you act so grown up that I forget that you're still young, so I treat you like one of my men."

Cooper shook his head. "It's fine, Dad," he said. "I know you're busy."

"It's no excuse to make you feel inferior," his father countered. "Ride up front with me and tell me how you figured it out before us."

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><p><em>I'm hoping to have the final chapter up sometime later today. In the meantime, wish your mother's Happy Mother's Day and give them a hug... Oh, and review. :D<em>


	13. The Kingdom is Safe

_Here it is. The end of the road. Thanks so much for all your support and enthusiasm throughout. It's been a pleasure writing it._

**Epilogue**

Mama always said that the best stories started with a fire breathing dragon. So there were Cooper and Liam, sitting cross legged on the floor of their grandparent's living room, surrounded by family and friends, telling the tale of how Liam defeated the fire breathing dragon and then went on to battle with poisonous serpents, a dragon lady and an evil witch. Liam explained how cunning the evil-doers had been in tricking him into lying on their altar and Cooper explained how he and Astrid had used critical literacy to figure out where they were holding him.

"And then Dad's ninjas swung in from the ceiling and caged all the reptiles and the evil witch with their special cage initiators," Liam exclaimed, jumping up in his excitement and adding actions to his words. "They tied them up and took them away to the fire pits never to be seen again!"

The congregation cheered at the epic end of the story, even if it was somewhat different to the last time they'd heard it, and much more exciting than the real thing. Liam made his way over to Great Grandma Mazur where they engaged in enthusiastic conversation about the extra details Great Gram always loved to hear and Cooper turned his attention to his father and uncles.

"What _really_ happened to them?" he asked, finally letting his curiosity get the better of him. The question had been nibbling at the back of his mind all week, but the general rule was not to ask about that kind of thing. Cooper hoped that since he was so involved in this particular case his father would make an exception to the rule.

The men exchanged significant looks, not bothering to keep their faces blank for once, and that fact alone told Cooper that he was about to hear the details.

"Usually in cases like these, we interrogate them and then _make them disappear,_" Uncle Tank, started, coming closer to lean against the armchair Dad sat in. "But this case was a little different."

"There were a lot of them," Uncle Lester agreed. "And not all of them seemed stable of mind."

"Wait," Coop interrupted. "What do you mean by make them disappear?" he questioned. "Do you mean you kill them?"

His father looked him directly in the eyes, staring all the way into his soul, and as he spoke Cooper felt certain that even though he said one thing, he meant the exact opposite. "Of course we don't kill them," he informed them. "That's murder and it's illegal. Usually we take them into the police and they deal with them. Got it?"

Cooper nodded, a shiver running down his spine. "Right. So you didn't make them disappear this time?"

"No," Uncle Bobby confirmed. "Their mental state was too fragile to warrant such harsh action. And while we don't believe in giving the benefit of the doubt, especially where you and your brother and mother are concerned, we do believe in allowing them to regain a normal mental balance before we taken any further action."

"So what you're saying is..." he prompted.

"After your father gave me the much needed opportunity to kick the witch's ass from here to breakfast time, he shipped them all off to a high security mental institution where they will await evaluation," Mama stated, coming over to perch on the coffee table beside him. "Their evaluation appointments are in roughly three years. They should all be completely insane by then."

Cooper shook his head. His parents were a little sadistic, why had it taken him 16 years to come to the conclusion when the fact that they made him clean the fifth floor bathroom as punishment should have been enough evidence?

"THE FLOOR IS MADE OF LAVA!" Liam yelled, running over to them. "QUICK ACTIVATE YOUR BOOTS!"

They all laughed and tapped the side of their shoes as the boy jumped up on the arm chair his father was sitting in and giggled. The kingdom was safe and the prince was back to his palace. The horses were fed and resting in the table. The treasure was being kept safe by the eagles. And the bad guys were melting away in the fire pits. Things were just as they should be.

The End

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><p><em>Stay tuned, my new story will be arriving in the next couple of days.<em>


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